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Another Punny Fish

Earlier I made a card using Concord & 9ths Fish Friends stencils. There are also dies that will cut out the stenciled fish as well as dies that work on their own. This is a CASE of one of the cards on Concord & 9ths blog made by Carissa Wiley. 

I found a great piece of patterned paper to work as the water. It was a single sheet separated long ago from its paper pad so I have no idea where it came from. I added some ink blending to the bottom of the paper to darken the water. I trimmed the panel down just a bit so I had a narrow frame of the dark teal cardstock. I used scraps of C&9th cardstock to cut out the underwater plants and the fish, adding ink blending to all of them.

Once I had the placement figured out, I went to work on the sentiment. The one in the circle is from The Greetery’s Hey, Honeycomb Summer Sentiments and the sub sentiment is from the Something Fishy Sentiments, also by The Greetery. Finally I added quite a few Iridescent Dew Drops from Pinkfresh Studio for water bubbles.

This is my second card for the Seize the Birthday: Punny Sentiments Challenge. It’s off to NBUS as well. The is the debut of the Fish Friends dies and the Hey, Honeycomb . . . Sentiments. The Card Concept is hosting a dual challenge: Summer By The Sea and Christmas in July. I’ve entered twice with Christmas cards, but now I have Clean and Layered card for the summer challenge.

Birthday Fishes

Two of my favorite challenges have coordinated challenges. At Just Us Girls it’s Water, and at Seize the Birthday the challenge is Punny Sentiments. Now they aren’t necessarily coordinated but I have the new Greetery Something Fishy Sentiments so I knew I could put the two together.

Initially, I had another card in mind, and if I have time, I’ll be back with another Punny Fish card. On Monday, however, I got together with two friends, and one of them let me die cut a few of the Something Fishy dies from The Greetery. I die cut them with white cardstock, and then colored them with a combination of ink blending and Copic markers. I love that the fish come with party hats included. I added some glitter to the pom-poms with a Gelly Roll Clear Star pen.

The background was stenciled with a variety of blue/aqua inks and the Simon Says Waves stencil on a panel of Concord & 9th’s Powder cardstock. Once that was done, I’ll out my Sheer Shimmer Sparkle spray and lightly sprayed the background. I like the sublte shimmer and the “water” spots. Tiny black pearls from Amuse were perfect for the fishes’ eyes. The fish were added to the card with thin dimensional tape

The sentiment was stamped with aqua ink on a piece of Powder cardstock and stacked with two additional sentiment dies. Finally the panel was added to a white card base. In addition to JUGS and Seize the Birthday, this is another card for the August NBUS gallery.

Warm Wishes

Yesterday I was on the Memory Box blog with one of my favorite images from the Christmas Charm release, the Heirloom Candle Holder. I knew right away, it would make an elegant Christmas card. 

All the pieces were die cut from Bristol cardstock and ink blended before assembling. I used some metallic gold watercolor to splatter a piece of cream cord stock. While that dried I cut one of the Nested Globes from an A2 panel of black paper to create a frame for the candle.

Before adding the candle to the card, I die cut a piece of holly from the Evergreen Holly Bundle and some berries from the Pine and Berries Sprigs to tuck behind the candle. The Warm Wishes Gold Foil Greeting Tab finished the card. 

Another card for the Christmas stash which is not growing as fast as it should be! And another card for NBUS–a first for the Heritage Candle, but surely not the last.

Color Hues #139

Marcia is the mid-month hostess for the new Color Hues Challenge. She picked a fabulous summer combination for us.

My first impulse was to find a Pinkfresh Studio floral to play with, but when I went looking I discovered the Citrus Twist stamp, stencil, and die that was part of the Create and Connect event in February 2024. It was one of the projects I never got to, and it’s just perfect for a Yellow and Orange challenge.

I gold embossed the stamp and die cut it before stenciling which worked out great. I used just two ink colors but added a darker center for the oranges with a new 1/4” blending brush from Pinkfresh. I won a gift card awhile ago, and just recently put in an order. They have redesigned the smaller brushes with the same kind of bristles the 1” brushes have. Those large brushes are my very favorite ones, and I used them for the overall stenciling. The smaller one work wonderfully, too.

The background cover plate is the Scalloped Grid by Pinkfresh. I used dimensional tape to add it to the card base after seeing thatbdone during the August Greetery release. I love how it looks. After adding the main image to the background, I die cut a few tiny flowers from Spellbinder’s Lemon Zest die set in yellow and orange. I added the centers with a Black Glaze Pen. 

The sentiment is just perfect for a summery card, and can be used for several occasions. It was hot foiled with the Spellbinders Curved Everyday Sentiments and die cut with the accompanying dies. This card makes me happy!

Please check out the Color Hues Blog for lots of inspiration from the Design Team and our Guest Designer, Priscilla.

This is off to two challenges: The Neglected Stuff Challenge, monthly Pinkfresh Studio Challenge and since this die set is both neglected and it’s being used for the first time, it’s off to NBUS as well.

Pretty Picado on Repeat

I don’t get tired of making these Pretty Picado birthday and anniversary cards. Just changing up the color scheme creates a whole different look. There were several pink and orange cared during The Greetery release in May, and I thought they were particularly festive. 


Die cutting takes care of all the elements of this card except for the stamped sentiments. The larger sentiment was stamped and then die cut with a coordinating die. The only trick to putting together this version of the card was being sure the white die cut layer matched the orange embossed layer perfectly. It took two tries. 


All the products work together seamlessly: Capsule Basics, Pretty PIicado die, Pretty Picado Embossing Folder, and the Pretty Picado Sentiments.

I’m sending this off to A Cut Above and Seize the Birthday—both to their Anything Goes category.


We’ve been busy the last two weeks. After the week in Rochester with my daughter and her family, we all came to Lake Diane in Michigan for a week. We haven’t had the best weather, but we’ve rented a large cottage with a variety of table games (ping pong, pool, etc) in the basement. I’m not terribly interested (or very good) at any of that, but I’ve finished two good books. Despite some rain every day (and some heavy downpours), no day was a total wash-out, so we were able to take a boat out, swim, and do some tubing every daylight. We head home tomorrow. 

Holiday Robin

I pulled out the Memory Box Holiday Robin for my post on the Memory Box blog today. I thought this charming fellow with his Santa hat and scarf would look great perched on the Pine Berry Branch from last year’s Christmas release. 

After die cutting, I ink blended all the individual pieces, and assembled the robin, and then did the same with the pine and berry branch. Then I die cut a Round Eyelet Circle Frame and a slightly smaller Basic Circle die from white cardstock and layered them on a Cherry Red card base. I placed Mr. Robin on one of the berry branches with dimensional tape. I snipped the evergreens from a second branch and tucked them behind the robin.


 Next, I added some berries from the Pine and Berries Sprigs (from this year’s release), die cut from Cherry Red cardstock with a coat of Nuvo Crystal Glaze for some dimension. A Gold Foiled Black Tab from the Holiday Wishes set finished the card. 

This is my second helping, as my friend Michele would say, to The Card Concept Challenge: Christmas in July (extending into August). And it’s another Clean and Layered Card.

Christmas Holly Arch

I’m on the Memory Box blog today with another Christmas card created with several products from the new Christmas Cheer release. I started with one of the white Nested Globes which I added to a card base of Cherry Red cardstock—a perfect Christmas red.


After die cutting the holly from a pretty green paper in the Greenery Paper Pad, I added some ink blending to the base of the holly leaves.  To arrange the holly around the top of the arch, I needed to snip some of the holly branches apart and reassemble them so they would follow the curve of the globe. 


By applying a darker red ink to red cardstock from the Blush Paper Pad I created an ombre panel for die cutting the sentiment. I added it to a vellum shadow layer and then to the white globe. I splattered some gold watercolor paint to create some interest on the white panel which would have been much easier if I had done it before adding the globe to the card base! The beautiful new Perky Bow was added to the center of the arch along with some gold berries. To balance the design I added a holly leaf and some berries to accent the sentiment as well as some gold berries to the holly on the arch.

I’m adding this to the gallery at The Card Concept for the optional challenge: Christmas in July (the challenge is open until the end of August). It’s a Clean and Layered card inspired by the colors red, green, gold, and white. One more Christmas card for the stash!

Happy Birthday!

Today is my daughter’s birthday, and lucky for us, she’s visiting this week. Her brother and his family are coming for dinner, and we’re having some family photos taken as well. 

I’m doing a much better than usual job of creating with recent purchases. One of the products I liked the most from the recent Greetery release was the Checked Out die. I thought it would be very versatile, and I’m convinced that I was right after making just one card! 

I die cut two from a bright blue cardstock and layered them over a cream card base. I pulled out The Greetery’s Best Bouquets Detail die that I enjoyed using for a recentColor Hues Challenge, this time with pretty yellow and blue flowers. I added some ink blending to the flowers as well as the leaves. This is a nother top notch product from The Greetery. The floral elements as well as the whole bouquet are so easy to assemble.

I wasn’t sure where I wanted to put the sentiment, and tried a variety of dies and banners, but once again, the Gold Foiled Black Greeting Tabs were the perfect answer. It’s elegant and doesn’t cover up much of the bouquet. All in all, it’s a quintessential summer bouquet for an August birthday,

This is off to the AAA Birthday Challenge: Flowers and to NBUS since this is the debut of the Checked Out die.

Color Hues #138


It’s my turn to be hostess for the new Color Hues Challenge and I chose:

When I decided on this pairing, I know I had something specific in mind, but when it came time to create with it, I had no idea what my inspiration had been. But, it really didn’t matter once I pulled out a very old favorite, Papertrey Ink’s Lovely Layers stamps and dies. I paired it with a brand new (to me) product, Spellbiner’s Molded Frame 3-D Embossing Folder.

I’d forgotten how much I love this stamp and die set. Once I chose the cardstock (pieces from my scrap boxes) it came together quickly. I die cut each shape and then gold embossed the patterns. There is a stamp for the smallest piece in the design, but I really didn’t care for it this time. I die cut a new one, and added three tiny gold pearls with a piece of dimensional tape instead. 

Once the design was assembled, I added it to the Molded Frame die cut from watercolor paper. The Lovely Layers design fit perfectly. The sentiment is from an old favorite Pink & Main’s Special Day sentiments.

Be sure to check out how the Color Hues Design Team interpreted these colors, as well as our wonderful Guest Designer, Rachel Ball. I’ll be anxious to see your creations and I hope you’ll fill up the gallery! 

The Wishful Snowman

It’s definitely unusual, but this is the second post for today! One of the dies from the Memory Box’s new Christmas Cheer release is a cute snowman, The Wishful Snowman.”  This card went up on the Memory Box blog this morning. I opted to keep it simple, creating a landscape of glittering snow, bare tree branches, and a bright blue sky. 

Although the glittering snowflakes in the sky are hard to detect in the photo, they doe reflect the light when the card is in your hand. I added a gold star to the snowman’s hand. This Wishful Snowman is sending lots of good vibes for a Merry Christmas.

I’m way behind on creating Christmas cards. A couple of years ago I started creating sets of cards each month, so by now, I’d have nearly 70 cards in my stash. Not so much this year, so every single one is a win. I’m sending this off to Addicted to Stamps and More where creating Christmas cards is the current challenge.

Woodblock Wednesday-July 2026

It’s Woodblock Wednesday, and I’m on time this month! When I started this card I thought it would be a second entry into the current Paper Players Sketch challenge. These squares seemed too large for that sketch so I went in a totally different direction. 

The woodblock stamp is one of two sunflower designs by Annette Watkins. The other is a full sunflower, but was definitely too large for the challenge or even this card. After stamping the flower three times, I colored it with Copic markers and die cut each with one of Ellen Hutson’s Essential Squares. I love these dies because each one cuts a frame as well as the square. I thought the framing was especially nice with these flowers.

The striped pattern paper has long been separated from the 6X6 paper pad so I’m not sure of its origins. The sentiment was stamped in dark brown and is an old favorite from Papertrey Ink’s Banner Sentiments. The card base is 6 X 4.5.

Thanks, as always, to Amy for this monthly event. It’s a great reminder to look more closely at the woodblock stamps I saved. Must admit, I wish I’d saved a few more. 

Paper Players: Sketch Challenge

A sketch challenge is not often where I start for a card design, but as soon as I saw the sketch from The Paper Players, I knew just what I wanted to do.

One of my recent purchases from The Greetery was the Tile Style stamp set. It’s a beautiful set of tiles in two sizes. I used three of the larger ones for this card. The tiles were stamped and then die cut with one of the Shortbread Shapes: Rectangle Labels.

I embossed the blue panel with a Stampin’ Up embossing folder and added it to a white card base. I purchased the embossing folder several years ago from eBay, and never had the packaging so I don’t know what it’s called. The Thinking of You White Gold Foiled Greeting Tab from Memory Box worked perfectly for the sentiment. The gold foiling prompted me to use two gold hearts die cut from Simon Says Holiday Shapes. They were added with tiny pieces of dimensional tape.

It’s always good to have another encouragement card in the stash.

Shortbread Shapes Tiled Birthday Card

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Knowing that the end of July through the middle of September is incredibly busy, I’ve spent most of my crafting time making sure my obligations to the Color Hues and Memory Box Design Teams are completed. Now what time I have can be spent on using some wonderful new products I’ve acquired this summer. 

The Greetery’s Shortbread Shapes: Rectangle Tiles was top on that list. I experimented with a few design ideas, but ended up with a monochomatic card that I’m quite happy with.


After die cutting the Shortbread Shapes Rectangle in Vintage Cream cardstock, I ran it through in the Shortbread Shapes: Rectangle Tiles 3D Embossing Folder. The details are so beautiful, the card doesn’t need much embellishment.


For the sentiment I die cut the Shortbread Shapes Rectangle Label and added just one of the embossed tiles narrowly framed with gold cardstock and a sentiment from the new Simple Everyday Mini Sentiments embossed in gold. I didn’t center  the sentiment top to bottom, so I added three Pinkfresh Studio Gold Pearls. That was a mistake that actually improved the card, and when I make another (as I surely will) the three gold pearls will be right there. 


This card is off to a very special event at Darnell’s NBUS site—be sure to click through to read about the amazing number of cards submitted from 2020 until today created with Never Before Used Stuff! I’ve contributed quite a few myself, but this is the first one for July. It’s also off to Seize the Birthday: Anything Goes. 

 Color Hues #137

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Jules has chosen one of my all-time favorite color combinations for the new Color Hues Challenge: 


I have to thank teammate, Stef Perry, for the inspiration for this card. For our May 1st Color Hues Challenge, she posted a card with the Spellbinder Block Accent Arches. I immediately fell in love with them. It was part of a Spellbinder’s kit, and the arches were already out of stock. I put myself on the wait list, and when they finally arrived, I knew I would use them for this challenge. For the centerpiece, I’ll pulled out an old favorite from The Greetery, Best Bouquet Detals die. I have to say, I love how it all came together.


I die cut the leaves and guide for arranging the florals in black, adding flowers that I die cut and assembled from several hues of red cardstock found in my scraps bin. Then I die cut four floral pieces in metallic gold. 


The original gold berries were too intense for the arrangement so I die cut one in red and slightly offset the gold. Much better. Not long ago I spent an afternoon with my foiling machine, so the Spellbinder’s Fancy Sentiment Strips banner was all set to go, foiled in gold on black. 


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

Birthday Balloons

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The Seize the Birthday Challenge: One or More Numbers came at just the right time. I have a birthday card to share that I made for my great-nephew who turned two recently. 


The Stamp Market’s Balloon Essential dies and Birthday Balloon Greetings are proving to be a good purchase. I’ve used them several times for kids’ birthday cards, but know that switching from the bright colors to metallic balloons will make great cards for adults as well. Once again, I pulled out the Lifestyle Crafts tiny stars embossing folder. It’s so old, I don’t know what it was titled when it was released. I chose a bright Kelly green, orange and yellow color combination. The number 2 was die cut three times with Papertrey Ink’s Block Numbers, also a very old product. 


In addition to Seize the Birthday, this is off to the Neglected Stuff Blog since I pulled out two old products for this card.