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Christmas Greenery


I’m on the Memory Box Blog today with a festive Christmas basket featuring some wonderful new products from the just released Christmas Cheer collection. The Harvest Basket, Pine and Berry Sprigs and Fresh Poinsettia Bundle work together beautifully.  Die cutting, a bit of ink blending, and some glittery snow on the pine branches & it all came together nicely.

All the details are on the Memory Box Blog.

For the last several years, I’ve made 10 Christmas cards each month. By now I’d have 60! I’ve made a few Christmas cards, but not many, so I’m happy to have another in the stash!

I’m sending this off to The Card Concept where Christmas in July is one of the options. I was inspired by the Christmas theme and colors to create a Clean and Layered card.

Color Hues #136


The new Color Hues Challenge is live with an elegant color combination, chosen by Julie:


One category of cards I never have on hand when I need them are sympathy cards, and this beautiful combination seemed perfect for one. 


I pulled out two much older, and neglected, products: Papertrey Ink’s beautiful die cut butterfly from the Life is Beautiful set, and Gina K’s wonderful embossing folder, Tapestry. I die cut the shadow for the butterfly and the panel for the embossing folder from Simon Says Cream cardstock. The detailed butterfly was die cut from metallic gold, and then from black. I snipped the body and antenna from the black and added it to the gold butterfly.


After embossing the smaller panel, I added it to a cream card base and attached the butterfly at a slight angle with some dimensional tape. The sentiment, gold foiled on black, is from Spellbinder’s You Are Everything set. A CAS card with lots of elegance thanks to the detailed embossing folder. 

The Color Hues Blog is showcasing some fabulous cards by our Design Team. I hope you’ll find some inspiration there and join us in the gallery. 

This is a perfect card for the Neglected Stuff Challenge, so I’m sending it over for the July challenge.

Fish Friends


The current Just Us Girls Challenge looking for stencils was perfect timing. I finally had time to make a card just for fun! During a recent Concord & 9th sale, I picked up the Fish Friends bundle. I don’t have anything like it, and I love the whimsical look of the fish. It also has a wonderful layered die set which I hope to get to soon.


I stenciled the fish with three Concord & 9th inks: Watermelon, Creamsicle and Harbor. When using the Watermelon ink I varied the pressure to add some darker areas to the fish bodies. It’s a 6X6 stencil, so I cut it down with Gina K’s Master Layout #1 dies, and layered it on a Stamp Market Sea Glass A2 card base. Interestingly, the C&9th Harbor cardstock wasn’t as good a match as the more aqua Sea Glass. 


The sentiment is from My Favorite Things, Bitty Birthday Wishes. I added quite a few clear drops by Pinkfresh Studio thinking they looked a bit like water bubbles. 

In addition to Just Us Girls, I’m sending this off to the Stencil Fun Challenge, a last entry to June’s NBUS and an entry to Darnell’s I.D.E.A.S. This is a fifth week so the S stands for Stencils.

Happy Anniversary


When @thegreetery introduced the Pretty Picado suite of products, Betsy made a beautiful wedding card with white and cream. I used the same colors for an anniversary card for my niece and her husband. The main panel is backed with gold metallic cardstock, and the beautiful dies from Pretty Picado and the Capsule Basics suite do all the rest of the work!


This is going to be a “go to” for anniversary cards for awhile. I’ll need to make a list of who I send them to so they don’t get the same card two years in a row!

I’m sending this off To Addicted to Stamps and More: Diecuts or Stencils.

Thinking of You Shaker Card


Earlier this week I was on the Memory Box Blog with a shaker card inspired by Laura Bassen for a recent Online Card Class. I had perfect products to CASE Laura’s card. I started with the Raindrop Plate diecuttting it with light blue cardstock and backing it with matte silver which gives the raindrops a wonderful shimmer. The Umbrella Trio had just the right size umbrella which I die cut from red and yellow scraps with some matte silver for the handle. 


I chose a circle from Circle Basics that was the perfect size for the umbrella and cut it from the raindrop panel, and backed it with a piece of acetate. The card base was created with white cardstock, and I layered a piece of blue cardstock to back the shaker.


I added a pile of pretty white sequins to the blue background. After lining the raindrop panel with dimensional tape, I carefully layered in onto the card base. The sentiment is one from the Sunshine and Wildflowers stamp set, stamped in black and then trimmed out. It was added to the card front with thin dimensional tape.


I’d been thinking about using these products for a shaker card for a long time. Once I saw Laura’s card it came together very quickly.

Woodblock Wednesday: June 2026 Edition

Once again I’m late to the Woodblock Wednesday party! But not too late to play along.

When I looked through my wooden stamp collection, I was immediately drawn to an old Hero Arts stamp, Bicycle. It’s finally bike riding weather here after one of the coolest and wettest Junes I can remember.



I went for a CAS design, and there wasn’t a lot of coloring to do. I colored the flowers and the basket with a set of “Click Art Retractable Marker” pens that I picked up the last time I was in Dick Blick. The package says it contains “new ink technology that never dries out.” The tiny nibs are great for small areas like these flowers. I added a dot of white Glaze Pen to the centers of the flowers. It always surprises me that it spreads out a bit when it dries. I did add some shine to the centers of the wheels with a silver Signo pen. It definitely catches the light although not very well in the photo, 



After stamping and coloring the image I die cut it with an Ellen Hutson Essential Squares die. They always cut a thin frame as well. Occasionally I add one of the frames die cut in a contrasting color, but I love the white on white so kept the attached frame. I stamped the sentiment from a Papertrey Ink set, Pedal Pusher. I try to use a wooden stamp for the sentiment as well for Woodblock Wednesday but this one is much more appropriate for the bicycle image than anything I have in my wooden stamp collection. A larger frame was die cut in black for some contrast, and it was added to a 5” square card base.  


Thanks, as always, to Amy for hosting Woodblock Wednesday!

Abstract Mountain

Father’s Day was Sunday. My cards were done on time, but this is the first time I’ve had time to edit photos and get a blog post written. Some unexpected commitments have kept me busy in the craft room, but it will be awhile before I can share them.

In addition to the Father’s Day cards, I needed a masculine birthday card. I thought the Ellen Hutson Abstract Mountain die would be great for both. I tried a new technique which didn’t work all that well, so went back to ink blending and using cardstock to piece together the scenes. It makes sense to make multiples with this die since you have make die cuts of six different colors of cardstock. I ended up with four inkblended skies that I liked so had two Father’s Day cards (one for Matt and one for Tracy) and two birthday cards. My son-in-law in Wisconsin got a gift certificate with the Father’s Day message.


While I was looking for something else, I came upon this Reverse Confetti Stitched Window Cover Panel. It works really well with the Abstract Mountain die, but only three of the mountains show. All the rest of the cards were die cut with an Ellen Hutson Essential Arches die and in the end I prefer them. (All four of the photos were taken at the same time, in the same place. Why this one has a blue cast to it is anyone’s guess. I thought I’d be able to color correct it, but neither my phone’ editing progam or Photoshop Elements wanted to cooperate tonight.)

The sentiments for both of these cards are from Pink & Main’s Special Day stamp set.


The birthday sentiments are from Memory Box, Black Gold Foiled Happy Birthday Tabs.

The AAA Birthday Challenge: For the Boys is still open so I’ll send a second entry off to them. This is a very old die set so I’m sending one off to The Neglected Stuff Challenge as well.

Butterflies and Flowers


I was on the Memory Box Blog yesterday with a new card showcasing the wonderful Wild Leaves and Brilliant Butterflies along with some white flowers from the Arched Flower Basket.


I was on the Memory Box Blog yesterday with a new card showcasing the wonderful Wild Leaves and Brilliant Butterflies along with some white flowers from the Arched Flower Basket.

Although there’s a lot going on here, it’s still a Clean and Simple design because all the “action” is in the circle. The leaves were die cut from very light yellow cardstock and then ink blended with three shades of green. The butterflies were cut from white cardstock and then ink blended after they were assembled. Another of my favorite Memory Box sentiment tabs finished it off.


There is a detailed description on the Memory Box Blog.

Color Hues 135


Carol has chosen the new colors for the 135th Color Hues.Challenge:

I purchased the Spellbinders Sunflower Serenade last summer but have never used it. I wanted a Clean and Simple card and it was just perfect. I die cut it from yellow cardstock and added some ink blending to the middle of the flower before adding the centers in two shades of brown (one of our acceptable neutrals.) 


Two squares were cut with Ellen Hutson’s Essential Squares. A slightly smaller one from My Favorite Things Black and White Basics paper pack and one size larger from black cardstock. I miss MFT; their patterned paper packs are one of my favorites. After layering those onto a white card base, I added the sunflower with a square of dimensional tape. 


The sentiment is one of Memory Boxes Gold Foiled Greeting Tabs. After adding the greeting, I wanted some gold with the sunflower. I tried a couple gold leaves, but they were too much, so I went with my favorite Pinkfresh Studio gold pearls.


Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate your visit and your comments as well! I hope you’ll hop over to the Color Hues Challenge blog to check out the fabulous designs created by our team and our Guest Designers, Barbara Campbell and Diana K. We would love to see you add a card to our gallery. It’s open until 9:00 am on June 29th.  

This card is off to Darnell’s NBUS and to the A Cut Above Challenge—Anything Goes with a die cut.

Happy Birthday, Maddy!

Our youngest Rochester granddaughter turns 10 early next month. She’ll be in Nantucket for her birthday as she always is. Her birthday present request was a shopping trip. We did the same last year. She gets a set amount and can choose where she wants to go and what she wants to purchase. Last year she was a very efficient and focused shopper. It was delightful to spend the afternoon with her. Today is this year’s shopping day since her “friends” party is next weekend before they leave.

Skylar and Ella, her older sisters, have been taking horseback riding lessons for several years. Although Maddy always spends one week during the summer at horseback riding camp, her long time commitment has been to dancing. Here she is after her dance recital two weeks ago.



When I first saw this adorable dancer by Penny Black, Heart Dancer, I knew it would make a great birthday card for her. I almost always made some kind of interactive cards for the girls’ birthdays, and decided a shaker would work well.



I wanted to watercolor the dancer, so used Art Pop’s Watercolor Pad for the stamping as well as the card elements. I used Zig Watercolor brushes with a small watercolor brush to paint the dancer. I scribble some watercolor on a palette and pick it up with the good watercolor brush. For the first time ever, I think, I didn’t have to redo it!



Once the dancer was painted, dried and die cut, I die cut an opening in a card panel with the Penny Black Elegant Frames die. I die cut it again to get an extra frame for some dimension. A piece of acetate was placed behind the opening, and I piled up some colorful confetti and some clear sequins and beads for the shaker. I carefully added the panel  to the card base with think shaker dimensional tape which comes in long strips. 


Lastly, I added the dancer with dimensional tape as well as the birthday sentiment strip (Sugar Peas Everyday Sentiments die cut with My Favorite Things Itty Bitty Strip dies.)

I love the sentiment that comes with the stamp set and die cut a smaller Elegant Frame for the inside of the card. 

I always give Maddy the option to open her card early or take it with her to open on her birthday. Last year it went to Nantucket. We’ll see what she chooses to do this afternoon.

There are two challenges which showed up at the exact moment I needed them: Seize the Birthday: Use Vellum or Acetate and Addicted to CAS: Use a Frame. In addition it’s off to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge: Anything Goes and to Darnell’s NBUS.

Balloons for the Boys


We have two grand-nephews (both named Finn) whose birthdays come close together. A friend loaned me The Stamp Market Birthday Essentials, Birthday Balloon Greetings, and the accompanying dies. I die cut a huge pile of balloons in different colors and after making these two cards, tucked the rest away for future cards. Once I saw the Birthday Balloon Greetings and dies, I ordered a set of my own. I know I’ll use them on the balloons I tucked away, but I’m quite sure they’ll be pulled out for other birthday cards.

Both cards use the same layout, and the same background (a tiny starts embossing folder by Lifestyle Crafts which has been In my collection for years!) I chose different colors and different sentiments, adding some gold stars to the second card.


I’m sending the second card off to AAA Birthday Challenge: For the Boys.


Thanks for stopping by. I’m enjoying the sunshine and warm weather we’ve been having, but splitting my time between the yard and the craft room. The open window here is blowing in a wonderful warm breeze.


Just a Note

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I’m on the Memory Box blog today with a sentiment-focused notecard using flowers from the Arched Flower Basket, the Woven Flower Basket and the Flower Basket Bouquet dies. I used the largest of the Cinched Frame dies to create a shaped card. The front panel was cut from a pretty teal paper from the Lagoon Paper Pack. I die cut a second frame from white cardstock (so it’s easy to write a note!). I scored about 3/8” down from the top of the white panel to create a hinge and glued the two pieces together.



The next step was to cut a third Cinched Frame in white for the focal panel. I chose a teal cardstock just a shade darker from the Lagoon pack for the sentiment, die cut and stacked three of the Just a Note dies before adding them to the center of the front panel.



Then I just needed to arrange my flowers which were die cut from various papers in the Lagoon, Sunrise, Blush, and Greenery paper pads. I’m sending this off to the Word Power Challenge (focal point is the sentiment) and A Cut Above Challenge—die cuts!

Clean and Simple Birthday Cards

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I pulled out a Penny Black stamp that I have never used to make a birthday card for a friend. The stamp set, Charisma, had four floral images in vases, and I ended up making a set of four cards. It’s always good to have some CAS birthday cards on hand. 



The card design is from Jill Foster, the card designer behind Penny Black. Her introductory videos are fabulous, and one series showcased a variety of designs.



I stamped all four images and colored them with Copic markers and then die cut them with the accompanying dies. I embossed a sheet of cardstock with the Penny Black Textured embossing folder, and then cut four strips with my paper cutter. I adhered them to the bottom of each card and added a narrow strip of white paper above them. 



The sentiment from Penny Black’s Delightful Day was stamped in black.



One of these is off to NBUS, one to Seize the Birthday: Anything Goes, one to Penny Black Saturday Challenge: Anything Goes, and one to Addicted to Stamps and More: Birthdays.

Sending Sunshine

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It’s been awhile since I’ve enrolled in one of the Online Card Classes, but when the latest class was announced I signed right up. It was called Brighter Days and the kit which I ordered from Concord and 9th includes stamps, dies, and stencils designed to create encouragement cards. After Christmas and birthday cards, I send more thinking of you cards than any other category and far more than I would like to send! It’s probably a function of my age that so many people I know are in need of encouragement.

The class ran last week. I watched all the videos but never got time to create any of the cards. Yesterday I sat down with the class supplies to create a card for a good friend who definitely needs a bit of sunshine. This is a combination of ideas from the class but not one that was presented by the instructors.


The first step was to decide what size card I wanted. I ended up with 5″ square card and cut a panel 4 1/4″ square for the stenciling. Kristina Werner designed all the products for this class and her expertise shows in the design of the Rainbow Rays Stencil which puts a white space between each of the rainbow colors. The three stencils separate the colors as you ink so the next stencil always covers the one you just inked. It means a lot less masking!


The clouds and sun were die cut from white paper, and I ink blended the sun. They are from the Weather Together Dies. All three clouds were attached with dimensional tape. There is a rectangular die for the sentiment included in the kit, but it was a bit bigger than I needed, so I turned to Ellen Hutson’s Essential Rectangles. I love the fonts of these sentiments. I used another of the stamp sets, Easier and Brighter, to create the inside sentiment.


This card is going to the Colorful Options Challenge which somehow I never seem to get to. Rainbow is always an option there. And it’s off to NBUS for all the new products used and works with Darnell’s I.D.E.A.S. Week 1: Inking.

Clean & Simple Birthday

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I have a card for two challenges today–Just Us Girls: Stencil Week and Seize the Birthday: Anything Goes. This card is for my niece, and I am really pleased with its simplicity.


The Folk Garden florals by Pinkfresh Studio have always been a favorite of mine. The stamp contains multiple florals but the die cuts them out separately. I don’t think I’ve ever used just two of them, but I’m pretty sure I’ll do it again. I chose the two florals and then die cut the square panel with Simon Says Stitched Squares.


All the florals were stenciled with the accompanying stencil before die cutting. I chose one of the Memory Box White Gold Foiled Greeting Tabs for the sentiment and then added the two florals with dimensional tape. The stitched square was added to the square cardbase with a panel of dimensional adhesive.