Some Ferns

Happy Autumn Greetings!

Whoa, what a busy month so far and another busy week coming up! However, I completed my entry for Let's Squash It! Challenge #24.

For my 3/4 squashed image I chose an embossing folder from Stampin' Up! called Fern. On a personal note, my mother-in-law's name was Fern married to Vern. But that's another story. Since my fern e f is new, I am also adding this card to NBUS # 42 and to The Snippets Playground #437. The bottom right die cut ferns were cut from snippets of the same white cardstock as the embossing. Wow, I don't think I have ever entered 3 challenges in one post before. 😀

Anyway, here is some info on how I made this in case you're interested. First I chose SU cardstock in a nice shade of green, but I forgot to write down the name. Next I embossed a piece of PTI Ink White c.s. and cut it down to the proper size. Among my vertical sets is this retired  wood set called Vertical Greetings where I found the happy birthday stamp. This rubber stamp is mounted a bit crookedly, so I admit to trying to disguise that with the die cut ferns. They are from SU's Iconic Dies Sale-A-Bration goodie from last winter. 

A pretty simple card to make, all in all, and I always need birthday cards so am glad to make one.

Take good care, my crafty friends. Do stop by again. Bye, bye from a cool day in my Minnesota.

Three Snowmen

 Hello!

Today I finally finished my entry to CAS Christmas Card Challenge: September. It was really difficult to photograph (probably me) with all the silver shine, but here you go.

Here is how I made this card. The white cardstock base is Papertrey Ink Basic, a nice study weight. I embossed it with Stampin' Up! retired Subles embossing folder. The three snowmen stamp called Snowy Family, is by Penny Black labeled 2015, but I just bought it. So adorable, right? 

The snow people were stamped using the video technique called Foiling Stamped Images shown by Jennifer McGuire recently. I messed up the greeting, so fussy cut out the image before coloring. The foil is I Craft Deco Foil. To color I used Spectrum Noir Metallic pens in Green Citrine and Red Garnet. The colors were kind of dull, so added Glossy Accents atop. 

To finish, I mounted this focal point onto the base with Bearly Art Glue, fast becoming a favorite of mine, and stamped my greeting with Encore! Silver. My greeting is from a SU retired set called White Christmas. The card is a single layer without dimensionals for easier mailing. So happy to have another card done, well, I'll do the inside later. LOL

Whew, done. I appreciate you all stopping by, thanks for visiting. Bye now from a beautiful Autumn day here in Minnesota with a cool down coming soon! I actually look forward to that.

Beautiful Colors Together

Hi There~

Here is my entry for The Color Hues: Challenge #48, their 2nd Birthday challenge! Many congratulations on two years challenging us with colorful combinations! This time it is navy and lime green together. 

Just finished this card this evening CASEing Jennifer McGuire from her video showcasing this wonderful die, a new Altenew die for me. So I am adding this card to NBUS #48. 

My cardbase is Stampin' Up! Night of Navy with the newer Altenew die called Edged Wildflower cut from Lemon Lime Twist card stock. I see this c.s. as lime green despite the label. What do you think? The card is an A2 size, side folding. 

I used Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue with sticky back paper to adhere the Happy Birthday Word Topper die greeting from Picket Fence Studios. All these products are available online. 

It was difficult to get a good picture of this card, but I did not want to wait until tomorrow to photograph it in daylight. A busy day is this Sunday for me. Get to see my daughters and maybe the baby. 

Many thanks for checking in to see my blog posts. I've been loving the comments and try to visit you crafters as soon as I can. Night, night from a lovely cool full moon night 🌕 here in Minnesota.

CCC for August 2022

 Hi~

A simple card this time as I was running out of mojo. I had this bicycle die cut sitting on my desk, so decided to color it and mimic the Sketch Option for this month. I think the bike was a gift from fellow CCC player Dee, so thanks to her or to whomever gifted it to me! 

Just a plain background card base in my go-to white Papertrey Ink cardstock. I colored the basket with SU Stampin' Blend Light Soft Suede, used Gelly Roll Metallic in silver for the spokes, and a Basic Black marker for the tires, seat and handlebars. The bike itself came in this pale aqua. The black road hold the greeting, a Simple Strip from Taylored Expressions. I just wrote a note inside before mailing the card.

Posting the card today as August is over (where did it go?) and my recipient has her card! Thanks for visiting. I love the comments! Bye now from a happy great-grandmother in Minnesota. 

Merry Christmas

Happy Greetings to You!

It's been a wonderful but hectic week with my daughter, her daughter and my great-granddaughter back here in Minnesota. So happy!!

Finally, here is the card I made for the CAS Christmas Card Challenge August 2022. The prompt this time is Pine.

I went looking at all my pine tree stamps and dies (and I have many) and found an old one that I liked. This stamp I cannot find anywhere on-line is called Country Dual Images by A Stamp In The Hand Co. which I couldn't really find either. 

Anyway, onto a piece of Papertrey Ink Fresh Snow Linen cardstock, I stamped the trees in retired Stampin' Up! Handsome Hunter ink. The ink pad had dried out, but I revived it with Ink Refresher from Ranger. The tree image didn't stamp well, but I decided the imperfections kind of look like there is snow coming down and on the trees. Some creative licensing going on here, teehee. 

Just for fun I mounted the front piece on red fun foam, the stamped the simple Merry Christmas greeting in SU Real Red, using a stamp set from Lawn Fawn called Christmas Cookie. It is still available for sale. The base card is also Handsome Hunter.  

That is it from me. Another card done for my stash. Take good care of yourselves, and happy crafting!

 

Two This Time!

 Greetings!

Am glad you are here. I have two cards I have made recently both following ideas found online.

This first one I am CASEing Cathy Zielske on one of her latests videos. 

I used what Distress Inks that I had trying to mimic Cathy's colors. I scooted with a sponge, Ranger Peeled Paint, Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean, Wilted Violet, and Faded Jeans inks diagonally across a piece of white card stock then tried to do some blending. I need more practice but like this okay. After cutting the piece down to a smaller size, I ran it through my Gemini Jr. with a NBUS Dibble Dot embossing folder from Simon Says Stamp. Being, new, I am adding this card to NBUS #41.

I felt the colorful bit needed to be grounded, so mounted it on black c.s. before adhering it to the white base card. 

This birthday greeting die is also from SSS called It's Your Birthday. It is out of stock at the moment, but you could get on a wait list if you want. I cut it from both black and white paper. Done! I have many birthdays coming up in August, so am glad to have another card ready.

My second card, another birthday one that I call Peach because of the pretty peach colored flowered dsp from 2021 at Stampin' Up! I had only a few pieces. The paper was called Expressions in Ink, part of a suite that I didn't buy.  Alas.

I just fussy cut out a few of the flowers right from the dsp. The nicest ones form the focal point of my card and are popped up with dimensionals.

My card base this time is SU Evening Evergreen topped with a stash peach colored paper and this floral embossed card stock. I received this lovely embossed white card from a stamping buddy, but I am sorry I cannot recall who sent it. Thank you! Please let me know in a comment. 

Can you see that there are gold speckles in the center of these flowers? I wanted to highlight that so stamped and gold embossed the sentiment on a small snippet of the green paper. I just fussy cut around it. This greeting is from the SU Awesome Otters stamp set. 

Whew! Creating in August heat and humidity these days. This summer is going by so fast! The highlight for me will be that my family is coming in from CA. Moving back here for good. I'll get to see my great granddaughter.  Yay!! 

July 2022 CCC

 Hello~

This month I am loosley using the Sketch Option shown, plus the Theme Option: Birds

Chickens are birds, right? I thought it would be fun to take out the retired Stampin' Up! set called Hey, Chick. The set was one of two chicks set at the Sale-a-Bration freebies from winter 2021. 

I made a fence mimicking the sketch. A 6 x 6 pad of paper from Doodlebug Design Inc.  circa 2014, is where I found the wood image paper. The fat chicken was stamped poorly, so I did another and fussy cut her out, gluing it atop. She is telling my recipient that she's a good egg and I have an egg from the same set stamped inside along with a note.

The colors used are all SU markers and the ground stamp is from a current SU set, Let's Set Sail. A new to me stencil from ARTplorations, and Bashful Blue ink helped me make the clouds.

Of course I cannot publish this until the CCC for July closes, but the card is going in the mail soon.

Many thanks for visiting and commenting. Hugs from a humid but nice breezy summer day in Minnesota. 

Squashed Pink

 Hello Again!

As time is running out on one of my favorite challenges, I made a card today for Let's Squash It!!Challenge #22. They are looking for a CAS card this time and I think mine is pretty simple.

Pink being one of my favorite colors (besides blue) so I chose the base card color first. This cardstock is retired Stampin' Up! Pink Pirouette. I'll never get rid of this color. Next, I embossed another piece of the c.s. using my Altenew Beautiful Bergenia embossing folder. After cutting it to 5 x 3-3/4, I simply glued it to the card base. 

Luckily in my card parts basket, I had this thanks die cut that needed to be loved! I used Connect Glue from Gina K that worked really well with the narrow letters. The thanks die is from Avery Elle, in a retired set called Pierced Hexagon. It is available online a few places. 

A quick and easy card to make, but I think it is pretty and I needed a card for my friend that took me to the Dr. 

It is the first time out for this embossing folder, so am adding this card to NBUS #40, my second outing this month. Yay!  

Thanks for stopping by. Today is just lovely here in Minnesota, 70's and low humidity. Changes are coming, but that is okay. It's summer!

My Santa Card

Happy Hello!

I finally finished my entry to the July, CAS Christmas Card Challenge. The first one was too busy for CAS. More about that one later. 

Here is the one I chose to enter this time. What do you think of the saying I put on? Pretty funny, I think. 😃

Among my Santa stamps was this oldie (2003) stamp from Stampin' Up! called Ho-Ho-Holidays! I am thinking he is there sitting on his gold embossed sleigh waiting for the deer to show up.

The festive green frame is newer one that I bought recently from The Greetery called Nordic Frames Die. The cardstock is SU Emerald Envy. I colored the Santa with SU Stampin' Blend Real Red, the matching marker, and used the RR ink for the sentiment.

 

This greeting is from an old My Favorite Things clear stamp set from 2016 called Christmas Cuteness. I liked it and stamped it with the help of my MISTI. 

Next up is the too busy one using the same Santa stamp. 

Lots to look at, right? The set had this reindeer stamp too, but it was easier just stamping and coloring a couple of them. To start, I masked off a small circle for the moon and the other images too before trying some blending. I used SU Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point and  Night of Navy inks blending them with a sponge. I found that ink combination somewhere on YouTube. When fInally  satisfied, I dotted some snowflakes using the end of a crease-making tool dipped in some white Picket Fence glaze. Lastly for snow, I glued down carefully, a lot of old Art Institute Fallings Snow glitter flakes. Whew, another Christmas card done!

Bye for now. I am exhausted, had the colonoscopy yesterday and all is well. Do take care of yourself, my trusty friends. Get one if you are of a certain age! It is hot, but the humidity is down today/tonight here in Minnesota. 

  

Using Patterned Paper

 Howdy!

As many of you do, I have TONS of beautiful and not so beautiful patterned papers and rarely use them. Why, you say? I haven't an excuse except maybe laziness or not sure what to do with them. The other day I saw a post by demo Glenda Calkins that I liked the simplicity of, so here is my CASEing.

The card base, A2 top folding, is Stampin' Up! Polished Pink, one of their newer colors. Pretty much the whole of the front is a piece of SU's Awash in Beauty dsp. I love the colors of these flowers and leaves. 

I kept the sentiment simple as to not take away from the paper. It's from the Eden's Garden cling stamp set. I mounted it on a little left over snippet from the front piece, the reverse side. I used another stamp from the same set, Sending Hugs and happy birthday from the Happiness Abounds poly stamp set. Both of the two sets are new to me, and available, so I am adding this card to Darnell's NBUS #40. 

 On the personal side, I have news. My oldest daughter is moving from CA back to MN in August, along with her daughter and my great-granddaughter and dad too. Yay! But, not in preparation for that, of course, I'm preparing for a colonoscopy next week. Yuck!

Thank you for stopping by. Please visit again. Bye now from The Land of Ten Thousand Lakes.

P. S. I notice now the sentiment is a bit crooked, but I've fixed it. Still posting. 😀

CCC for June 2022

 Hello from Minnesota,

I hope you are having a nice summer, not too hot or cool and with lots of pretty flowers outside and crafting supplies inside to keep you happy!

Here is the card that I sent to Lucille in New Jersey. Sending and receiving cards from all over the world is a real pleasure for me.

For this card I chose the Theme Option: Fluffy. Kittens are the best example of fluffiness in the world, in my opinion! 😊

The wooden stamp of the kitten is an old one from Inkadinkao. I've had it for years. She is stamped in directly onto the inside of the card base, using the newer Cinnamon Cider ink.  The  A2 card base is Stampin' Up! retired Balmy Blue. I cut the hole in the front with one of the Spellbinders nesting circle dies. 

A matching hole was cut into a piece of white c.s. that is embossed with the also retired SU/Sizzix embossing folder called Tufted Dynamic Textured Impressions. It covers the whole of the front making it look like the kitty is sitting on a bedspread. I have lots of embossing folders, and just cannot part with any of them.

To finish up I attached a trio of brownish enamel dots and the greeting from a KaiserCraft Mini Clear Stamps set.  For fun, I just fussy cut around the words. A note to Lucille is written inside.

I guess I've given some love to a lot of retired things in this post, sorry. But it is a good thing to do that, right?

Goodbye from summer in Minnesota. I am pleased that you came to visit.

Blue & Green & Alcohol Ink

 Hello Crafty Friends!

Today I am joining Color Hues #43 which is asking us to use blue and green on our card. I have watched several times a video by On YGo! Stamping showing how to use common rubbing alcohol to make backgrounds. 

Heidi Collins shows how to use the rubbing alcohol we all probably have along with Stampin' Up! Blends markers to make interesting backgrounds on vellum. Have a look at my finished card, won't you?

The marker colors smushed onto a piece of vellum from my stash, are Dark Misty Moonlight, Dark Soft Succulent and Dark Seaside Spray. The gist of the video was to heavily scribble alcohol markers onto vellum, then take a cotton ball saturated with 91% Alcohol and dab all over the colors. A final step was flicking alcohol fine droplets onto the colors. When dry, voila, a pretty background.

I see a darker green in this image than the Soft Succulent color used, so the card base and the leaf is done in dark green c.s. but I am not sure of the name or brand. The leaf silhouette is from Avery Elle, Pierced Hexagon die set that is still found on-line. The wide white border was done with a Papertrey Ink White c.s. and a Double Ups Rectangle die that is sold out now. There is a slight scallop embossed edge to the die, however it is hard to see in this photograph. 

I wasn't sure where to put a sentiment, so will decide when I get ready to send out the card. Any suggestions for me?

Thank you for stopping by, and please visit again. Sunny, breezy and cool today here in Minnesota. Great weather!

                               

CAS Christmas: A Wreath

 Greetings Stampers!

I am so very happy to have the CAS Christmas Challenge return now for June. Thanks Loll and the team, I've missed the inspiration! 

My card is a CASE of one I saw on-line in that I chose two colors of green to make the wreath. I found I have 7 different wreath stamps in my collection. Gosh, who knew? Anyway, here is my card. Apologies, no matter what I tried, I couldn't get a good picture, but I hope you can see the details.

The base card and frame are done with PTI Basic White with the frame from the still available Stampin' Up! Scalloped Contours die set. But it is retiring soon. The wreath stamp and die are from Memory Box, called Watching The World Bloom and is for sale many places. It is supposed to be a floral wreath, but I saw that it could look like leaves when done in green. I used SU new Evening Evergreen and retired Wild Wasabi cardstock. The wreaths were first  stamped with VersaMark and heat embossed with clear embossing powder then die cut. My Gemini Jr. got a work out as I made a few of these cards. 

In keeping with the CAS requirement, I kept the greeting simple using an old die from Elizabeth Craft Designs. Three little red pearls from my stash finished up this card. 

We are expecting some temps in the 80's today and this weekend, so making Christmas cards was fun for me. I like summer, but not the high humidity we get. 

Bye for now. Thank you for stopping by and I hope you will visit again. 

                                        

Birthday Wishes for Twins

 Hello!

Today's card is a CASE of my own birthday card that was sent to me from Darnell in CA. Thanks, Darnell, I just love your card and just happen to have the darling elephant stamp set in my collection. 

Here is my creation:

My two great-nieces turned four last week so this is the card I sent to them. Next year, I expect I will need to send them individual cards. Right?

The precious elephants are from the fairly old Unforgettable clear stamp set by Wplus9. I got my set in 2015,  but I find it is still for sale!

To make my card I first stamped the three balloons to float up the elephants onto a piece of white cardstock leaving room for the main elements. A tiny numeral 4 from My Favorite Things  set called  Fabulous At Any Age  (available on-line) is on the center balloon. 

Next, on a scrap of photo paper I played with Ranger Distress inks in several pastel colors just smearing them across the the paper.  I've forgotten which colors exactly, but DO in Spun Sugar was one of them. I inked up the two outline elephants each in the blue ink then fussy cut them out. They are popped up with dimensionals. The card base is A2 size in Stampin' Up! retired Pink Pirouette. The die sentiment is a CutPlorations one from STAMPlorations called Birthday Wishes. Sold out right now, sorry to say. A few SU silvery rhinestones add some sparkle to the card. 

Did you notice the tail of the center balloon is pointing to the birthday wishes? My wishes to the girls are in the inside. So inside I put four Happy Birthdays cut outs in silver and white all in a row down the page. They were a gift from Lia, a Card Chain Challenge friend in The Netherlands. Dang, I forgot to take a picture. 

That's it for now. Cool today and some rain here in MN. I like it this way.😉

A Daffidill

 Hey, Hi and Hello!

Today is the revel for the May Card Chain Challenge, so am posting my card that was sent to Julia in Massachusetts for you all to see.  I am fond of this card, just saying. 😀

I made my card to follow the colors option for this CCC spring challenge. Daffodils blooming mean spring to me and I am lucky enough to have both the stamp and die used to make this card. 

The base card is Terracotta Tile and the daffodils are colored with Stampin' Blends markers all from Stampin' Up!  The stamp set and die are from Taylored Expressions called Big Blooms-Daffodils, retired now, I'm sorry to say. The sentiment strip is also from TE. It is from the Simple Strips In Reverse Collection - Everyday Occasions, and is still available. 

Splitcoaststamper, Pat Robinson sent me the lovely red rubber stamp. To follow the suggested monthly colors, the flowers were colored with Daffodil Delight using both the light and dark shades. A touch of Granny Apple Green did up the leaves. These alcohol blends work well as they are double sided with one end nicely pointed. No, I'm not a demo and I buy my supplies from SU and many other places!

Many thanks for visiting my blog. I love comments! Be sure when you comment I can reach you to come and see your creations.  Cyber hugs from a beautiful mid 70's and breezy day in Minnesota. 

Wishing Her Well

 Greetings!

The card today was made a bit ago and has been sent to my granddaughter at her college in Pennsylvania. She is finishing up final exams this week and will be coming home for the summer. Yay! She loves owls, so my card was made especially for her.

I bought this wooden stamp on Esty. Isn't it fun? I just love it! The owl was stamped in retired Chocolate Chip ink from Stampin' Up! and framed in Basic Black cardstock. A top folding base card is the same brown. 

The sentiment is from  the pre-printed Simple Strips In Reverse Everyday Occasions and die set by Taylored Expressions. This set and many others are still available with many really handy sentiments. I have several of this word strips and love them. Inside on another piece of white I wrote am encouraging note. 

Rainy and warm today in Minnesota with severe storms possible. A good day to create! Thanks for visiting and please stop by again. 

My Bird Card

 Hi There!

I noticed a challenge a couple of days ago that I believe I have never posted a card to before. So I am entering Freshly Made Sketches #533 with my birdie card. I liked the idea of the three vertical lines with a sentiment.  

Laying on my desk was this mostly blue and finished cut of a bird and a piece of black and white plank siding-like paper that just needed to be used. Papertrey Ink is where I got the bird stamp set and die. It's called Feathered Friends Mini 19 and is new to me this spring. Not sure where I got the patterned paper.

Here's my card and some details on how I made it.

It took me ages to figure out how to assemble the19 small stamps into a bird. I used my MISTI but it was still a struggle. But I did it!! Then the die didn't quite fit as the head on my final bird's head was crooked. Fussy cutting again to the rescue. Saved it any way. Yes I  know...it's hand made. LOL The colors I used are Memento Black, Concord & 9th Midnight inks and/or markers along with Stampin' Up! Brocade Blue (r), Bashful Blue (r) and a bit of Pumpkin Pie. The pre-printed sentiment is from Taylored Expressions. 

My good friend Beth in CA photographs wonderful pictures of birds, so this stamp set and the final card were made with her in mind. She makes many pop-up and intricate cards for friends but not regular cards, so I think she will appreciate this made especially for her.

I also had the black folded A2 card base ready on my desk, so with a piece of white c.s. inside for a note, I am finished and it's ready to mail.

Thinking of you my faithful friends who visit me. Hope your Spring or Fall is warm and sunny. Not here in Minnesota, yet, but Spring will arrive! Thanks for stopping by.

Dream Big

 Hello Friends!

Finished up my entry to the latest Let's Squash It! Challenge.  Number 19 asks for geometric and/or repeating patterns. I think my card has both! Can you see it?

Here we go. The embossing folder I chose to use is by Darice, called Quilt Blocks. I found it a few places on line, but mine is old. After running the folder through my Gemini Jr. I saw it as a white quilted bedspread, and so my card was born.

I knew that I had some images of animals or people sleeping, and after a search of my Evernote site, found these adorable pets sleeping and dreaming away. The set is by Elizabeth Craft Designs called Dreamers. It currently is on sale. 

I stamped the cuties with Memento and used Stampin' Up! Blender pens to color. I tried to do some shading, but my skill is still in progress. 

After fussy cutting out everything (seem to be doing that a lot lately😉), I popped them up with some dimensionals. I hope you can see the pup is dreaming of a bone. Why the bone is on a string is beyond me. The kitty just wants to play with a ball of yarn. 

The little Dream Big saying is from the Hero Arts Bookcase Peek-A-Boo set which along with the Dreamers set is new to me, so I am also posting this card to Darnell's NBUS #37 site.  It occurs to me that I did use snippets of paper for all the stamped things on this card, so I am adding this to Di and Sarn's Snippets Playground Challenge #426 too.

I keep track of the cards I make each month even if they are not blogged about. Do you all do that too? Am only at 4 this month, but made 3 more at my demo's workshop.  

Anyhow, that is all from me this time. Take good care and please stop by again. Comments are soooo appreciated. Hugs from a rainy Minnesota day and night.

 

A Couple of Easter Cards

 Hello!

Today I am posting two of the Easter cards that were sent to my grandkids. Am not sure what they do with them nowadays, as they are away in college. Oh well, I've heard that they love the cards. I've been sending them cards since toddler days.

Here is my grandson's card. 

I know that he has a great sense of humor so would like this one. 

The background/base card, I have to confess,  is pre-printed. I stamped the bunny using Memento Tuxedo Black. He has a hilarious expression, I think, and is by Stamping Bella. They say this Easter Bunny stamp is part of the Oddball Collection. I used Stampin' Up! Blender pens to color the little guy. The happy Easter greeting is inside along with a note.

Card #2 was mailed to my granddaughter at her college in Pennsylvania. She has called and loves it. 

I have CASED a card found on the Internet as I had all the goodies. Sorry, can't find who posted it first, but thank you. The stamp set used is Stampin' Up! Easter Friends. For some changes, my bunny was stamped in SU Soft Suede and fussy cut out. She is holding a tiny flower punched from Blackberry Bliss c.s. The SU embossing folder is called Ornate Flower and the card base is Garden Green. I used the greeting from the same set and fussy cut around it instead of the usual rectangle.

I hope you had a pleasant Easter if you celebrate and Happy Spring to all! Thanks for visiting. Bye from sunny MN today.

Tulips Abound

 Spring Greetings!

Like so many of you, I purchased the Stampin' Up! DSP Flowering Fields and now have made a card. I am so ready for Spring and for flowers blooming in my neighborhood. 

I am not sure what kind of special fold my card is, I probably saw it done online somewhere. If you know, please let me know in a comment. 

I just love, love this paper and its bright colors! To make the card, I cut a card base of SU new Evening Evergreen cardstock with an inch cut off of the opening side. Next I cut strips of the tulip paper to fit layering the inside piece over white for the message. 

Not having a die set of tulips, I used my Simon Says Stamp set called Etched Crocus Stems, which I think look like tulips. I used SU Pumpkin Pie and So Saffron scraps to make the flowers. It was a bit tricky gluing them down atop the green stems as I forgot to use double sided sticky paper before die cutting. Sigh. 😌

Here is the inside. More of the tulip paper and a couple of the tulip blossoms in the corner. An ancient (2013) Gina K stamp set called Vertical Greetings is where I found the birthday wishes. Several other companies have vertical sayings, but this one is a favorite of mine that still gets used. 

Because the flower heads are cut from scraps of paper, I am adding this birthday card to The Flower Challenge #66. I hope it doesn't have too many flowers!

Goodbye for now from another lovely day in Minnesota. Many thanks for visiting.

                          

Squashed It!

 A Springtime Hello!

Just finished up my entrant to the Let's Squash It! Challenge 18. My card making was fun but it took a lot of math and time. Once I figured out what sandwich to use in my ancient Big Shot to make the required embossing and debossing, it went OK. I like the card, it is Spring-like.

Picking the embossing folder was easy as I wanted to use my NBUS folder from Stampin' Up! called Ornate Floral 3D. So I'm adding this card to Darnell's NBUS #36 for March. 

Following the directions from Jo on this challenge team, I folded a card of SU's retired Tempting Turquoise paper in half, ran it through with one top plate and numerous pieces of old  cardstock to shim. When I opened it up, voila, both the  embossing and debossing showed. Hurrah! Next I cut the image to size and used a one inch piece of the same cardstock as the card base to cover up the fold crack between the two sides. 

Hunting through my oodles of flower stamps, I came across an old set from Altenew called Sunlit Flowers. I stamped and aligned two layers getting this pink flower. I used two of my favorite retired SU colors, Pretty in Pink and Pink Pirouette. I fussy cut out the flower, made green leaves and mounted them with dimensionals. Lastly, I stamped in black ink the generic happy birthday onto a scrap of the white, fussy cut it out and adhered it. Another card done! 

Making cards is fun for me, although I find I usually have to have a challenge or person in mind before coming up with a design. Do you all need to do that also?

Bye for now from a really pretty Spring day here in MN. Temps in the 50's. Yay! 

 

                 

Peace For Ukraine

 Hello Friends,

I too am thinking of the people of Ukraine and wishing peace in their country. I finished this card only yesterday. 

Choosing a piece of cardstock from my collection of blue papers wasn't easy. I only had one sheet of this blue paper that seemed to work, so I do not know its name. Anyway, I covered the bottom part of the base card with a snippet from a large pack of Stampin' Up! 6x6 patterned DSP. The two shades of yellow squares in the paper adds some interest, I feel, plus it matches the sunflower.

The national flower of Ukraine is the lovely  sunflower, so I stamped, colored and fussy cut out this large one from some white cardstock. The stamp is from Penny Black, called Sunshine, and dated 2012. I used SU Blender pens in shades of yellow, green and brown to color this flower after stamping it in Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I mounted the cutout with SU Dimensionals. A tiny strip of black c.s. separates the two colors of the flag depiction. The simple sentiment is from an old Lawn Fawn set where I snipped off the word peace from a longer phrase. I am submitting this card to the Snippets Playground: Challenge #423 because of the leftover papers used.

I come late to the output of crafter's support for Ukraine due to my having some surgery. Am back home now and recuperating well. Take good care of yourselves and be happy and creative. I will too! 😊

Not A Valentine

 Hi There!

This card is what I sent to Arlene in CA for the February Card Chain Challenge. It was made to loosely follow the Sketch Option, shown below, and it also follows the Friendship Theme Option. 

So here is my card that is not a valentine, really. I had on my desk a leftover heart cut from an alcohol ink play session and decided to use it. I cut out 3 more and began the card. To follow the sketch, I cut a piece of white cardstock with a scallop die, part of Stampin' Up! Scalloped Contour Dies set and pasted it on the left side of an A2 folded card base. The cardstock is from SU called Magenta Madness. An easy-peasy card to make. Just added a small sentiment and I was finished! This sentiment is from SU's retired Bella & Friends stamp set. 

Inside I added the fourth heart on the bottom left corner and wrote a note to my CCC friend. 

I like making simple cards and am pleased with how this one turned out. I really like the colors. What do you think? To valentine?

Goodbye for now from Minnesota where we will get snow in March, but there will be signs that Spring isn't too far away. Yay!

A Coneflower Card

 Hi There!

It's me again. Today I am joining the new Snippets Playground: Challenge #422 over in England where so many of my blogging friends live. Hi everyone!

I took some artistic freedom in making the coneflower, but I have an excuse. I've had this plaid background done for over a year not being able to figure out how to use it. For some reason today I finally came up with an idea. So here is my card.

To make the flower, I took out a NBUS Honey Bee die set called Lovely Layers: Coneflower, and cut the layers in black to go with the black in the background plaid. The plaid had been done with SU's Best Plaid Builder Dies set in black and Crushed Curry paper. A snippet of the yellow I found in my stash makes the center. In fact all the flower parts are from snippets of paper in my over-flowing snippets drawer.

Just for fun, I decided to cut the leaves in green. Stampin' Up! Emerald Envy this time. I hand cut a stem. Next I chose the base card color. The green again, then I could glue everything down and my card front is finished. Inside I die cut and placed a bumble bee snipped in black and the Crushed Curry from the Detailed Bee Dies set. The set and the plaid builder set are retired.

I am also adding this card to NBUS # 35 over with Darnell and her friends.

Today it is supposed to start snowing that will last until almost Wednesday. I park outside, so hope the car is not plowed in. 😅

Daffodils

 Hello, again~

Tonight I am posting a card that has already gone in the mail, but wanted to show it here. Besides, I need to again thank Pat (imastamper on SCS) for the Taylored Expressions Big Blooms-Daffodils stamp she gifted me. Many happy thanks, Pat. I had the die but not the stamp! Both are retired now, I am sorry to say.  Anyway,  here I am showing the card I made with this precious stamp and its matching die.

It is hard to tell, and I took many photos, the card base for this CAS card is Stampin' Up! retired cardstock called Concord Grape. I wish they had not retired it as it is gorgeous! 

The flower was stamped onto a piece of SU So Saffron c.s. with black ink and die cut. I decided not to color the leaves green as I liked it this way.  Also, I wasn't sure of my ability to chose the right shade of green to use. LOL

I left off a sentiment on the front as the large flowers should take center stage, I think. Because I needed a birthday card done quickly, I ended up stamping happy birthday inside with SU's Stylized Birthday in my Concord Grape ink. It is a wooden stamp (retired). Used a piece of white c.s. Then I added a small punched out a butterfly in the same yellow paper and glued it near the lower left corner. To finish, I wrote a message. I do still enjoy using punches. Do you too? This one is retired SU Elegant Butterfly.

Gosh, so many retired goodies used on this one card. Sorry about that. I call my bedroom my stamp studio as it is full of old stuff and some new too, of course. Good thing I have a corner desk with drawers and a bookcase to hold many things. :-)

I digress. Got to close now and get some sleep. Have a good rest of this weekend, and stay safe, my friends. Thanks for stopping by. Happy hugs to all from MN where it will be in the high 40's tomorrow. Hurray!

An Odd Christmas Card

Happy Valentine's Day

Nope, my card is not a valentine. I mailed all mine off to my three grandkids. This card is for the CAS Christmas Card Challenge: February 2022. 

What do you think?

My card is a different 😉 take on a Christmas card, I think, but I wanted so much to ink up my unused snow covered houses stamp. The stamp is part of a set from Lawn Fawn called Simply Celebrate Winter. It is available several places online.

To make this, I first stamped the row houses twice in Memento London Fog Ink to get the them all along the border of the card base. Next, I used the Hero Arts Lacquer Pen and Puffing Powder that were part of a kit purchased a couple of years ago. Can you can see the puffy snow? 

Thinking I was going to make a night scene, I colored the windows with a retired Barely Banana Stampin' Up! marker. I could not figure out how to get the sky colored neatly and still have white space, so added the sun rays. This makes my card a daytime Christmas greeting card. LOL The rays were cut out with an Erin Lee Creative die called Sun Rays using a scrap of yellow paper. 

Lastly, I found a stamp that I figured would work. It is from the SU Curvy Christmas stamp set. Retired too, alas, but it feels good to use stuff that I have!

Another Christmas card done, but not my best effort, I feel. 

I do appreciate you visiting my blog, please visit again. Bye for now from Valentine's Day in snowy Minnesota.

 

A Valentine

 Hello There...

I made just one new valentine this year for one of my grandkids. Having seen lovely ones in the Color Hues Challenge #34  that asks for red and black, I got to work so I could participate. My card is a CASE of Tracey McNeely's recent creation.

Here is mine. 

This card is a special fold because when it is 
closed, the front reverse folded part with the hearts is hiding the inside. My heart cut outs on the fold make it festive, I think. Two of the hearts are bright Real Red cardstock and the black one is in Basic Black.  All the materials are from Stampin' Up! except the greetings which are from My Favorite Things and then Simon Says Stamp. The second picture shows the card open.

To make this card I inked up my very old SU wooden stamp called Buffalo Check and followed Tracey's directions on inking up large stamps. The hearts are cut with the retired SU/Sizzix Sweet & Sassy die set. I surely will keep that set as it has 15 different sizes! The card base is A2 size in Basic Gray.

I kept the inside quite simple just adding a smaller heart and the greetings. I think this card will probably go to my only grandson who is away at college. He will appreciate the humor.  

I am also adding this card to Di's newly re-launched snippet challenge called Snippets  Playground Challenge #421 as all the hearts were cut from snippets of cardstock. 

That is all for now. Thanks for visiting, and please stop by again. Good bye for now from a fairly mild winter day in Minnesota.