A Surprise Gift Card

If you are like me, you seek out ways to wrap gift cards and I have a few store-bought favorites that we keep in our immediate family to use each year. One is a circular red tin with a spinner on top that lands on fun/funny sayings pie-shaped spots. Another favorite has a pop up bubble like the game Trouble where you push on it and the dice inside change position. Today I have a surprise-reveal wrapped box gift card holder on the Poppystamps blog. Here is a look at it.

What I used to make it:

• Poppystamps 2427 Lattice Plate
• Poppystamps 2803 Satin Ribbon die set
• Poppystamps 2794 Trimmer trees die set

The bow is so pretty and you can use more or less loops and tails as you wish. I ink blended shadows on the ribbon where there might be darker areas due to light on a bow. I also used the negative pieces of the Lattice Plate instead of the frame to get a textured pattern. Finally, the pine sprigs were made to be little trees, but I think they can work as both!

Hop on over to the Poppystamps blog to see more pictures and a tutorial for the gift card holder. 

Thanks for visiting today,

Carol

Trick or Treat Street

I've wanted to make a Halloween card with these Concord & 9th stencils since I first got them. A sweet friend shared some die cuts from her stash with me recently and I knew I would use some of them with this background. A few snafus later, this is my card for our Just Us Girls #847 CASE a DT challenge this week.

Products I used:

• Hero Arts Heroween dies
• Concord & 9th Seaside stencils, stamps and dies, ink pads
• Stampin' Up! Spooky Bits stamp set
• Ranger Distress Oxide stamp pads

I like "cute" Halloween and besides the bat, I think this is a fun trick or treating street where kids can get their candy. Will you be handing out candy where you live? In our neighborhood the kids start coming while it's light out and people are still getting home from work. The good part of that is that they are done early. Most adults sit in the driveway and chat with the parents and kids while handing out the treats. This year we change the clocks that night before going to bed, too, and it's a Saturday. This could be a crazy year.

Happy Halloween,

Carol

Adventure is Worthwhile

Our Theme Challenge at Time Out #325 this time around is based on the idea of Friendship/Encouragement/Support. As I was growing up we took trips near and far away. I was encouraged to travel and I have never regretted experiencing new places, even when it meant traveling alone sometimes. We've encouraged that same love of travel with our child who now shares the eagerness to explore the world. Travel is also something that brightens one's mood when it's needed. Taking a drive to a favorite place, or doing a quick getaway can change your perspective and mood quickly.

Stamplorations generously gifted me this Boho Landscapes A2 Card Front (among others) that has such gorgeous fall colors and only needs a sentiment to complete a card. I added a black clay heart (Picket Fence) to show the love of adventures and exploration. The sentiment is from Tim Holtz Small Talk sentiment stickers.

 

Our wonderful sponsor, Birch Press Designs, is generously offering a $20.00 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.

The team and our guest Rita have made fabulous cards for your inspiration, so take a moment to browse through their blogs to read about their techniques and insight.

Can't wait to see your cards in our gallery!

Thanks for visiting, 

Carol

Home Sweet Home

This week at Just Us Girls #846 it is Stencil time with our lovely hostess Bobby. I pulled out an older set of stencils. These Pink Fresh Studio Built On Dreams stencil, stamp and die sets work really well together and it's fun picking out colors to use with them. I went with a fall colorway. 

Be sure to check out the design team's cards on their blogs where they share the products they used and lots of techniques too. Carrie Sheridan is our guest this month and don't forget to visit her as well.

The house outline stamp was heat embossed with copper embossing powder. I like the fall look it gives. I used some tiny Spellbinders Gold Color Essentials gems for added sparkle to a very matte looking card and various inks to stencil the floral patterns onto my shaped card base. I die cut two houses and joined them on the left with a "hinge" I made using a narrow rectangle scored in half. I used glue on each side of the rectangle's fold to attach the hinge between the two houses on the left side in order for the card to open and close. I chose "home" as the sentiment from this stamp set because during the fall holidays families often travel home and I can use this card that way.

We hope you will come play along with us this week!

Carol

Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun!

I wasn't done using these cute ghost dies this year and have had this card idea in my head for a while. It's fun to "dress them up" with different colors and die cut versions. For our Just Us Girls Challenge #845 Carol chose a sweet fall Moodboard. I went with pastels (for the most part) and a girly feel to pair with the sentiment. Be sure to check out the team's terrific cards on their blogs, and that of our October guest, Carrie Sheridan.

 What I used to make my card:

• Hero Arts Free Spirit die set
• Taylored Expressions Stayin' Alive stamp set
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad

That's it for today. It's a beautiful day to be outside with clear blue skies!

Thanks for visiting!

Carol

You Are Tea-rrific

It is time for a Photo Inspiration Challenge at Time Out #324 and I happened to get this mini stamp and die set from Altenew recently. It's called Afternoon Delights and has the cup dies and a floral stamp with great sentiments as well. I took the fall colors and the coffee/espresso cups idea for my focal point. There is also good looking pastry, fruit and pumpkin and squash as well for your inspiration!

Photo Inspiration: Photo credit: Kateryna Hliznitsova - Ukraine

https://unsplash.com/photos/a-table-topped-with-plates-of-food-and-a-cup-of-coffee-rSspoWKoJCU

Stamplorations is our wonderful sponsor, generously offering a $25.00 store credit as a prize for our Challenge Winner, who will also be invited to join us as Guest Designer for a future challenge.

We are joined by Ashwini Rao of Experiments With Card Making Etc, and winner of Time Out #319 as Guest Designer.

We hope you will take part in this fall-inspired challenge. The team has a variety of great ideas for you and it would be worth the time to browse their blogs to read all the details!

See you in the gallery!

Carol

You Warm My Heart

It's fall and we can't deny it any longer. At Inspired By Challenge #IB410 Fall Mugs, there are some of the cutest mugs you'll see for the season. I zeroed in on the mugs with the fox, and next to it the one with the leaf, but I added a ghost for the third one on my card. I used shades of brown with a bit of orange and green thrown in like the changing leaves in Autumn. I got the idea to hide each mug behind the prior one. Here's what resulted.

What I used to make it:

• Poppystamps Nordic Waving Fox 2786 dies
• Pretty Pink Posh Winter Mugs die set
• MFT Perk Up stamp set
• Hero Arts Hero Hues Core Ink in Espresso
• Patterned paper

I really like this fun-fold because you can attach shapes and images to each page. Here is the link to the tutorial. Easy!! I may add a stamped sentiment on the ghost page that says, "Thanks a Latte."

Hope you are having some fall drinks these days. Anyone maybe doing some baking yet?

Thanks for visiting!

Carol