Beach Day!

It's that time! Summer days are here (in the southeast USA) and what comes to mind when you think of a day on the sand or water? This printed vellum may jog your thoughts because it did mine! I made this CAS card especially for the Freshly Made Sketches #736 as you can see in their sketch below.

What I used:

• Sizzix Summer Days dies
• Over The Moon Press Summer Memories printed vellum
• Red card stock
• Card stock scraps
• Foam adhesive
• Bearly Arts glue
• Glue Dots

These little icons are lots of fun to make. A pick up tool and reverse tweezers are a must to add the details, but still fun to see the  objects come to life. The vellum was cut to fit one side of the A2 card front, then adhered on the left with a strip of red card stock, and on the right with tiny dots of glue.

I arranged the sun, sailboat and tote bag and popped the top and bottom two up on foam adhesive, while the sailboat is glued flush to the card. I didn't think the card needed an added sentiment since the vellum says it all. This card could be for any age from child to adult. 

School is almost out and plans can be made for carefree days outside!! Yay!

Thanks for stopping by,

Carol

Kick Up Your Heels

It's Word Week at Just Us Girls #823 and the word is Flowers! Lisa is our lovely hostess and the team has a beautiful array of cards to inspire you! Our new teammate Denise Morgans and our guest Kerry Parkinson have wonderful cards for you too, so take some time to look at all of the blogs for ideas and details. I made several pairs of flower-adorned, pastel-colored shoes. 

I am also playing along at Inkspirational Challenge #367 with their Floral Palette Visual Prompt! I thought that my pastel circle rainbow of flowers on the pretty shoes fit well there!

What I used:

• Alex Syberia Chic Shoes dies
• Hero Arts High Heels stamp set (sentiment)
• MFT Cement Gray ink pad, Inside and Out Stitched circle die (sentiment)
• Spellbinders sequins
• Matte silver cardstock (insoles)
• Cardstock scraps

First, I have to say that this Chic Shoes die set is so much fun to play with and change up with colors and textures. I still have many ideas in my mind for different versions of these shoes.

 After I die cut all of the shoe and flower pieces I assembled them and put them in the color order that I liked which loosely resembles the rainbow. I cut a 6" x 6" card base. (Two 6" x 6" squares, one with a 1/4" score on one edge, joined by tear tape to create a "fold.") I adhered the shoes to the edges of the card front and cut off the excess from the edges. All that was left to do was to stamp the sentiment, die cut a stitched circle around it and pop it up on foam tape. Last minute I decided to add a bit of sparkle with some iridescent sequins. The photos don't show it, but the insides of the shoes are the same satiny silver in each pair, just like when they are brand new in the box. And the ink I used to stamp the sentiment is gray. It was a fun project!

Thanks for stopping in,

Carol

Just a Note

There is a reason why we hoard paper in our crafting stash. I have had this sheet music/floral paper for quite a while and have even given some of it away because I wasn't using it. Now I have the perfect purpose for using it in our Time Out Challenge #313: Making Music. You can't learn to play the music without the written notes on paper. My sentiment is a play on words as you can see, too. 

Our wonderful sponsor,  Gina K Designs, 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 can't wait to see your music making cards in the gallery! Be sure to visit the team's blogs for all the stories about their cards as well as our guest, Cindy Chiu of Escape To Stamping as our Guest Designer for this challenge. 

Here's what I used to make my card:

• La La Land Crafts Spring Song paper pack
• Simon Says Stamp Wonky Hearts die
• Pretty Pink Posh gems
• Creative Time Fun Notes stamp and die set
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad

All I did was die cut a big stitched heart, then adhered it to an A2 white card base slightly off the left side. I cut off the excess of the heart to use in the future. I stamped the sentiments and die cut the larger one. I matted the smaller one with pink cardstock and after adhering it to the card, added a few pink gems. I still remember learning to read music to play the viola for just a year in middle school and learning different sheet music for four years of piano lessons and recitals during high school. Did you take lessons and play an instrument?

Thanks for stopping in,

Carol

Squeeze the Day

It's time for the CASE It Instagram Hop for May 2026. The cardmakers who participate ask for permission to CASE a person whose card they have seen and loved. I asked @slanzal (Stephanie Lanzalotto of My Ink Well.) if I could Copy and Selectively Edit her very pretty lemon card with its black and white twine and fun sentiment. She agreed and here is my version, then her fabulous creation.

Here is her wonderful card with a branch of lemons against that pretty shaped die cut with the black and white twine (I love twine) on that great textured background.

What I used:

• Hero Arts Zest Wishes stamp set
• MFT Black and White Stripes paper pad
• Pink and Main Large Sentiment Strip dies
• Stampin' Up! Top Note die
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad
• Pretty Pink Posh gems
• Copic markers

I had fun coloring the lemons and leaves first, then fussy cutting them. I die cut the Top Note shape out of the black and white striped paper. I arranged the lemons and leaves and glued some right onto the card while others are popped up with foam tape. I stamped and die cut the sentiment and popped it up as well. Finally, I added a few gems for sparkle. My card is 5" x 4 1/4" to have an even border all around the top note shape. Stephanie's striped twine is going diagonally and so does my patterned paper. Is that by accident or on purpose? Pure luck. Lol.

Come Hop along with us! You can start with my instragram account which is https://www.instagram.com/sawithadtomakeit/, then see all the cards that were CASEd and how each person who played along changed those cards.

Thanks for stopping in,

Carol

Life's a Beach

Here is a fun idea from Vicki for our Just Us Girls #822 Die week: Use a Sentiment Die. I usually don't have enough large dies to make them the focal point of my cards. The one I chose is larger than most of my word dies and makes an impact on a card. I also have been seeing eclipse cards lately and I had to try the technique. I like to change up my card styles. Here is my card for our challenge.

The team, including our wonderful new team member Denise Morgans, and our guest this month Kerry Parkinson, absolutely hit it out of the ball park with their fabulous cards for this challenge. Be sure to check out their blogs for all of the details!

What I used:

• La La Land Crafts Summer Vacation Paper Pack
• Simon Says Stamp Life's A Beach die
• Stampin' Up Dots embossing folder
• Paper cutter
• Cardstock scraps

I started by cutting a 6" x 6' sheet of patterned paper every 3/4" to get eight equal strips from the sheet. (The number of strips doesn't matter.) Next I die cut a piece of black cardstock to 6" x 6" as well. I started adhering the strips from left to right. The odd numbered strips are left in their original form and the 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th strips are dry embossed with a dotted pattern. I adhered the first strip on the left with liquid glue onto the black square. The second embossed strip is popped up on foam tape. I repeated that process across to the right/8th strip. The black panel behind the strips shows up better in person as you turn the card left to right repeatedly.

Next, I die cut the sentiment (one die) from white, two yellow, two green and teal cardstocks. I chose those colors from the ones in the patterned paper.

There isn't a second die to mat the words, so on black cardstock I drew around the die with a pencil and fussy cut a mat for my words. I glued the letters to the black mat and the card was complete! The black peeking from between the strips is like those old time billboards that used to change the picture by rotating strips in one direction to go from one image to the next. Anyone remember those?

Thanks for stopping by. See you in the gallery!

Carol

Hi Sunshine

Hi there! I am the hostess at Just Us Girls #821 this week where we are having CASE a DT (Design Team Member's) card. I wanted to make a Mother's Day card for a friend who lives far from me and this is what I came up with for her. I included the things that are on my desk when I get a card ready to put in the mail.

Be sure to tell us whose card you CASEd and how you made it your own. We love to see your CASEs and can't wait for the gallery to fill up with your cards!

I'm also playing along at Stencil Fun Challenge here!

The stenciled postage takes 4 layering stencils to complete the floral images.

What I used:

• Postage Collage Tropical Flowers stencils, Overlapping Hello Additions Matching die, Overlapping Hello Additions stamp set, Postage Collage Beach Days stamp set, Postage Collage Love stamp set
• The Greetery Pen Pal die set
• Concord & 9th mini ink pads
• Ranger Distress and Distress Oxide ink pads
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad
• Silver cardstock

I stenciled first on an A2 white card panel. Then I die cut the flowers with the WF Postage Collage die. 

Next, I die cut the pen and assembled the parts.

I can't wait to use these stencils again. They not only have marks to line up the stencils, but also color suggestions on each stencil for every flower. Really detailed products!

I really hope to see your creative CASEd cards in the gallery this week!

Carol

Remember to Play

I'm back with a card for our Time Out Challenge #312 Photo Inspiration! It is a picture submitted by our teammate Deepti. Isn't it pretty and calming? Whether you see dawn or dusk, it can be a pretty scene on your card or just using those colors. I wasn't sure how I would make a card at first, then suddenly I remembered that I have this bridge die and got the silhouette idea for my card.

Our wonderful sponsor, is DoodlebugsWA, 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 Fran Wing of franmadeinoregon, and winner of Time Out #307 as Guest Designer.

 Here's what I used to make my card:

• Concord & 9th Seaside Post dies and stencils, Easy Stripes dies
• Tim Holtz Small Talk sticker
• Ranger Distress Oxide ink pads
• Foam tape

After ink blending through the postage stencil to make a sunset/sunrise look on my die cut postage, I die cut the bridge, anchor and sailboat out of black cardstock. I adhered the silhouettes onto the postage stamps and matted each completed stamp with a black square. Next, I die cut the pink and orange strips to be in the background behind the stamps. When the strips were adhered, I popped up the postage stamps on foam tape. All that was left was to add the sentiment, also popped up on foam tape. My card turned out to be CAS with kind of bright colors. 

We hope you will join us for this colorful challenge!

Carol