Thanks

I love gold, silver or copper embellished card stock and I saw some today that I couldn't resist. Not only do the black papers have gold on them, the white/off white background does too!At Just Us Girls Challenge #839 Die Week: Thanks, we've got a good variety of ideas for you. Check out the team's blogs as well as that of our guest designer, Julia Aston. We hope you will play along...who doesn't need a thank you card? Mine is a masculine one, verified and certified (lol) by my husband.

What I used:

• The Greetery Pen Pal die set, Scripted Sentiments stamp and die sets
• Pink Fresh Studio Diagonal Stitched Rectangle dies
• Patterned papers
• Gold card stock
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad

I used the stitched rectangle die to created a mat for the black card front. Next, I die cut and assembled the pens and decided on placement of them on the front panel. I stamped and die cut the "thanks" and adhered it to the card front. The sentiments in this set are SO pretty and swirly. I "need" the Christmas one now. Lol.

We hope you will play along this week!

Thanks for visiting,

Carol

Love You More Than...

For our Time Out Challenge #321 the theme is The Movies. I thought long and hard and remembered this cute patterned paper...and went from there. For your projects, take inspiration from anything movie-related—from a specific film to movies in general, from the theater experience to the magic behind the scenes on a movie set.

Think about:

🎞️ Your favorite movie

🎭 A beloved character

🍿 Things you’d see in a movie theater

🎬 The behind-the-scenes world of a movie set

✨ Your favorite animated film

❤️ A live-action classic

🎄 A favorite holiday movie

👻 A spooky favorite

🌟 Or anything else that makes you think, “That belongs in a movie!”

You get the picture! 😉

Our wonderful sponsor, STAMPlorations, is generously offering a $25,00 store credit as a prize for our Challenge Winner, who will also get an invitation to join us as Guest Designer for a future challenge.

We are joined by Kim Heggins of kimheggins on Instagram as our Guest Designer for this challenge.

What I used to make my card:

• Ellen Hutson Mod Floral die
• Stampin' Up! Mini Treat Bag Thinlits dies, Perfectly Preserved stamp set, Summer Starfruit ink pad (all older products)
• Concord & 9th Love You More Than stamp set
• Sugar Pea Designs Card Front Builder stitched rectangle die
• Simon Says Stamp circle die
• Lawn Fawn Coffee Cup Gift Card Holder die
• Pink and Main Rectangles Patterns stencil
• Altenew Obsidian Black ink pad
• Marvy Uchida Puffy Velvet pen in white

I'll keep this as short as possible:

First, I made a trip to the craft store a couple of days ago for puffy paint...I forgot that it was liquid applique that I needed. I've used it before. It all worked out.

For the popped corn I remembered a floral die I have that has three and four petals on the many flowers in it. I die cut it once, then started adding puffy paint one by one and heating it. It looks pretty real.

I added yellow card stock behind each popcorn piece to fill in the openings on each piece (flower center). 

I stenciled stripes on a piece of off white card stock to match the patterned paper. I die cut the bag front from a SU! set to get that paper bag look.

Then I die cut a take out coffee cup shape for the body of the popcorn bag. I added my popcorn pieces one by one behind it with liquid glue, then a few that look like they fell out of the bag.

For the sentiment I grabbed my C&9th "I love you more than" stamp set and some message board letter dies from The Stamp Market. I die cut the whole alphabet and picked out the ones I needed for "movie night." I stamped a cob of corn with yellow ink on the circle. Then stamped the "I love you more than" at the top with black ink.

Next, I lined up the black letters on the circle (so fussy and stubborn!) and covered them with a piece of Press 'n Seal. I lifted this off the circle and turned it over. I added liquid glue on the back side of the letters. Then I turned the Press 'n Seal right side up and set it down on the circle where I wanted the words to be. I rubbed over it a few times with my finger, then carefully peeled back the Press n Seal. Et voilà, the label was complete!

Last, I adhered the label to the bag of popcorn and popped the bag up on foam tape to put it on the die cut patterned paper on the card base.

Whew!

We hope you will join us for this movie challenge. Read the description on the Time Out blog and peruse the DT's blogs for ideas!

Can't wait to see your cards!

Carol

Just Chillin'

It's time for our Just Us Girls Challenge #838 Anything Goes Stencil Week with Denise as our hostess! It took me a few tries to get this Pretty Pink Posh stencil set to look the way I wanted. In the end, shading helped as well as a monochromatic look like I saw on their website.

What I used:

• Pretty Pink Posh Layered Summer Drinks Stencils
• Sizzix Happy Hour die set
• Pink and Main Large Sentiment Strip dies
• Ranger Distress ink pad in Peacock Feathers
• Poppystamps Life is Sweet stamp set (older)
• Various other ink pads and card stock scraps
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad
• Silver card stock

It's funny but the stenciling looks almost like an Xray to me. I didn't want the background to overpower the die cut drinks so I stenciled lightly with just one color. I wanted the fun bright drinks to take center stage.

We hope you will grab some stencils and play along with us this week!

So happy you stopped by!

Carol

When Life Gives You Lemons

Today is a rainy, thunder and lightning kind of day. I was working on a Christmas project and I saw the Freshly Made Sketches #750 Challenge. I got a related idea for a card. Squirrel! I dropped the other project and made this card. It took a lot of steps in the process but my cozy card is finished and I can get back to the original project that you'll see later in the fall. 

(The book is written by Mark Kay Andrews, first published by St. Martin's Press on May19, 2015. I picked it up to read as soon as we moved back to Florida and I see that the paperback released May 3, 2016, which is the same timeframe that I saw it and bought it. It's a good book and one of her many that are set in the south.)

I made a little book with a piece of foam sheet inside to make it look like a real book. I love this Creature Comforts die set from MFT and have used it a lot with the spoon, cup, glasses and a cell phone. I always make the spoon silver and use vellum for the tea bag for fun.The sprig of leaves is from The Greetery Cozy Cup stamp set. I used Hero Arts and Concord & 9th mini ink pads to ink blend the die cuts. The "napkin" is also from The Greetery. I've used it a lot as well. The knit patterned stenciling is Concord & 9th from the Stay Cozy Stencil pack. Finally, the cute sentiment stamp and die set is from  the My Monthly Hero Kit July 2026.

I hope you are having a relaxing Sunday. If I am forced to be inside by weather, I can't think of a better thing to do than make cards!

Thanks for visiting!

Carol

Thanks Friend #2

It is Mood Board week at Just Us Girls #836 and Lisa has a fall-inspired challenge for us! I took the three butterfly colors from the photo (but lighter shades of orange, yellow and teal) and paired them in a butterfly made of butterflies. I recently posted a card with this sentiment and I needed something small again, so here it is on repeat. You can use anything pictured or the overall theme or feeling you get from the photo. The team has lots of creative ideas for you, so stop by each blog to read about how they approached and completed their cards. Our guest designer Betty also has a wonderful card she designed for the challenge, so don't miss her on your blog visits!

What I used:

• Poppystamps 2779 Nordic Whisper Butterfly dies
• Tiny butterfly punch from years ago
• My Monthly Hero: When Life Gives You Lemons stamp and die sets
• Ellen Hutson A2 Piercing Plate 2
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad
• Ranger Distress Oxide ink pads

I die cut the Nordic butterfly base dies first. Next, I watercolored with Distress Oxide ink on a piece of watercolor paper in the three colors I wanted the little butterflies to be. After I dried this sheet with my heat gun, I punched LOTS of little butterflies and folded them in half. I adhered them to my big butterfly in deliberate sections and facing all directions. I only adhered the fold of the little ones to the butterfly base so that they would stay bent upward, looking like they are fluttering around. 

I created a Z-fold card base and die cut panels for it with my piercing plate. I adhered those to the front flap and inside back of the card base. I also cut one for the focal point square. I matted the square with black card stock, then popped up the butterfly with foam tape.

Last, I stamped and die cut the sentiment and adhered it to the front flap. There is space on the inside and back of the card for writing a message. 

We hope you will join us this week with the fun fall feel of this mood board!

Thanks for visiting!

Carol

Always Take the Scenic Route

It's a new challenge at Time Out Challenge #320 and we have a beautiful photo from teammate Katherine of architect Antoni Gaudí's Basilica Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain. I decided to take the idea of bright colors seen through a window. Stop by all of the team's blogs to read how they made their cards as well as that of our Guest Designer Jane Taylor of Purplejet!

Here's what I used to make my card:

• Spellfbinders Vista View Window dies
• Lawn Fawn woodgrain card stock
• La La Land Summer Vacation Paper Pack
• Tim Holtz Idea-ology sentiment strips

I die cut three windows to stack for dimension. I skipped the acetate this time because it is so hard to photograph! I traced the window perimeter on the scene I chose, then fussy cut it to fit behind the panes. The view has many of the same colors as the photo but is tropical instead of stained glass.

I wanted to add texture to the "walls" surrounding the indoor windows, so I chose the woodgrain card stock. Then I chose a sentiment and liked this one with "scenic" in it!

Our wonderful sponsor is Top Flight Stamps, generously offering a $25 store credit as a prize for our Challenge Winner, who will also get an invitation to join us as Guest Designer for a future challenge.

We anticipate a beautifully colorful gallery this round and can't wait to see what you create! Thanks for stopping by!

Carol

Boo!

Hello! I guess it is time to think "fall" and get some projects made. Sunday Stamps SSC392 Framed Focus inspired me to create a shadow box following their sketch. Here's my take on it.

I've made shadow boxes before and they are not too complicated. For this one I added the patterned paper to the sides to follow the  horizontal part of the sketch and ghosty patterned paper inside for the vertical part of the sketch. I popped up the jack o'lantern on a popped up rectangular "box" and adhered the clouds to each other, then the sides of the frame. (I die cut both clouds twice to make them sturdy.) I wanted a sentiment so I stamped and fussy cut the BOO! and a teeny ghost to pop in the corner. The finished shadow box is about 7" x 4 1/2" and 1/2" deep.

What I used:

• Sizzix Edison Colorize dies
• Stampin' Up! Spooky Bingo Bits stamp set, patterned paper (pumpkins and shadow box)
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad

There are lots of different sizes of shadow boxes on Pinterest and the tutorials have photos to follow. My next one will be square!

Have you started fall projects yet? I may still make summery ones but not for long. Happy summer's end and beginning of fall.

Thanks for stopping by,

Carol