Thanks Friend

Here is a citrusy summer card I made with the July 2026 Hero Arts My Monthly Hero: You're the Zest. I have only scratched the surface of this kit and can't wait to play with the other elements in it. I went for the fun shaker first.

At Just Us Girls #834 this week we are doing our CASE a Design Team member challenge. My card could be CASEd with stripes, fruit, shaker, the colors, layout, etc. The team has a lot to share with you that may strike your interest as well, so take a little time and read along at each blog for the details on their cards, too. Remember, you are not copying a card directly, but taking inspiration from it and making your own design. It's fun to see the results!

I created the 5" x 3 3/4" front panel by first masking off the stripes to ink blend blue distress ink. Then I ran it though the Big Shot with the embossing folder from the kit. I love blue, white and yellow together, especially with an Italian theme (which this kit is) for summer.

I die cut and assembled the lemons and the shaker elements, then ink blended the leaves. The kit has little dies for the shaker elements and I added clay fruit. I place the lemons on my panel wher they fit best. Last, I just stamped and die cut the sentiment and was done!

What I used:

• Hero Arts July 2026 My Monthly Hero: You're the Zest kit
• Pretty Pink Posh fruit clay bits
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad
• Ranger distress ink pad

We can't wait to see what inspires you this week and what you make based on the card you CASE. Be sure to mention whose card you used and how you CASEd it!

See you in the gallery!

Carol

Cool Summer

I'm still getting out summery products that haven't been used yet and having fun with them. This card ended up as a snow globe of sorts, inspired by those whale in a bottle scenes that have mermaids and beach scenes inside them. I also decided to play at Freshly Made Sketches #746, so I needed a sentiment across the bottom area below the "center stage" of the card. Michele's card has a similar shape to the focal point on her lovely card, too.

What I used to make my card:

• Spellbinders Ahoy Matey die set, Rolling Tide stencils set
• Simon Says Stamp Summer Sayings strip
• Waffle Flower A2 Nesterd Domes die
• Concord & 9th Dew Drops
• Papertrey Ink Woodgrain texture die

I love this Captain Seagull and couldn't wait to try him out. The stencil is fun too! I started out with a white helm then decided to blend some gray on it for contrast from the seagull and to look weathered. There is a woodgrain texture on the bottom of the snow globe that I added on top of the woodgrain card stock. I completed the card with a few dew drops for splashes.

It is a gloomy and thunderstormy Sunday and I'm waiting for the sun to come out. It would be nice to be on a boat like this guy.

Thanks for stopping by!

Carol

A Pink Villa in the Summertime

When The Greetery released their Dolce Vita Collection I was smitten with it. I especially fell in love with the villas! I've been looking at the rolling hills products for years, and when I saw that they used the stencils with the villa it was a no brainer. I kind of CASEd some of the colors on the back of the packaging for the die set's maiden voyage, but there are more card styles on their site that I want to try soon. I also tried her technique of swiping the ink on on the house with a blending brush to get the weathered stucco look. 

Our Just Us Girls Stencil Week Challenge #833 is what I made this easel card for with its striped hills like you see on open land from a plane or on the property. Please stop by and check out the team's blogs as well as that of our July guest Bonnie. Their stenciled projects are fantastic!

What I used for my card:

• The Greetery Countryside Villa Jumbo dies set, Rolling Hills stencils, Destination Summer stamp set
• Concord & 9th ink pads
• Ranger ink pads
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad

I watched a video of Becky making the easel card version and stopped it a LOT to be sure I was putting the pieces in the right places. All of a sudden it was done! I ink blended a light blue "cloudy" summer sky (more blue than clouds) above the hills (you can see in the second photo) and the view close up of the card in the side view shows hills and that sky (and a tree) behind the house.

Can't wait to see your stenciled cards this week! Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Carol

Hi Sunshine

I've had this card in my head for a while and now that I have a challenge which is the perfect time to finally try it. I love being on the water watching the ripples of the water that boats make and the colors of the shallow and deep waters by the shore and out beyond. Monet's Water Lillies painting caught my eye so many years ago and here I have my feeble attempt to recreate a part of it.

Our Time Out Challenge #318 is Mother Nature.

Think Environment: Mountains, oceans, forests, weather, and ecosystems.

Think Living Things: Plants, animals, and natural phenomena.

Think of Nature Itself: Features and processes that exist independently of human creation.

We can't wait to see what you create! 🌿

Our wonderful sponsor is Lawn Fawn and they are giving our winner a $25.00 credit to their store. The winner will also be invited to be a guest designer with us in a future challenge.

I am also playing along at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Make Your Own Background. Talk about repurposing products from my stash!

What I used to make my card:

• Altenew Wooden Rowboat dies, Obsidian Black ink pad
• Spellbinders Mugs and Mittens die set "steam" dies for the water ripples, Delicious decorations (flowers)
• Waffle Flower Quilt Circle Panel die (lily pads), Overlapping Hello Additions stamp and die sets
• Concord & 9th Dew Drops

I started with the steam dies from the Mugs and Mittens die set and positioned them to make my boat "wake" out of aqua and teal card stock (cutting one at a time). By placing the dies to cut a larger one, then a narrower one out of a 5" x 7" sheet of card stock I made the layers and popped them up off of a teal/blue base with foam tape. 

I made my boat using old wood-look card stock that I have hoarded, and then added oars. I die cut, then fussy cut "lily pads" and flowers to place on the water.

I made a 5" card base by cutting down an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of white card stock to 10" x 7" and scored it at 5" on the 10" edge. Last, I stamped and die cut the sentiment and added the completed front panel to my card base. Then I remembered to add the dew drops to look like splashes of water.

Be sure to visit our team's blogs to see how they were inspired by Mother Nature to make their cards. I love to learn about the thought process behind their cards.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today and I hope to see your Mather Nature inspired card in our gallery!

Carol

My Pink Suitcase

At Just Us Girls Bobby has found us a fun Mood Board for Challenge #832 and it has lots of beachy elements. On the bottom left there are suitcases on the sand and they grabbed my attention. Aren't you thinking about your vacation destination while packing? I copied the pink one and added colors that are elsewhere in the board. Be sure to check out the team's blogs and our guest Bonnie's for fun cards and ideas!

I have been admiring Sarah Leese Papercrafts' suitcase pop up "cards" and found her tutorial for them. She is SO creative! Here is my first try at a tropical version of my own using a variety of dies from my stash. There is room on the back to write a little message, in case you are wondering.

What I used:

• Spellbinders Retro Suitcase dies and sentiments
• Poppystamps Whittle Flamingo dieset
• Flora and Fauna Beach scene die
• My Favorite Things Wild Greenery dies
• Papertrey Ink Hibiscus Garden 3D die set
• Palm Tree stencil (brand?)
• Concord & 9th ink pads
• Hero Arts Hero Hues ink pad
• Gold card stock

If you watch Sarah's tutorial you will see how this project is made. It has accordian folded side pieces so that it can fold flat into an A2 envelope. You just have to be careful not to add elements that take it higher than 5 1/2" tall. Mine measures about 3 1/4" wide x 4 1/2" tall. The little luggage tag is free-moving, which is a fun little detail. I also love the hammock and beach umbrella on the sand under the palm trees which are all one connected die. I just cut it out several times to cut out each element in different colors to piece together. I ink blended the leaves a little like she did for shading.

Can't wait to see the gallery full of summer cards this week! Come play along!

Carol

Paradise is a State of Mind

One of my favorite sentiment stamp sets is from HoneyBee Stamps with its tropical sentiments and fun fonts. I used it for today's card to go with the seashell theme that I CASEd from Joy Baldwin of @createitwithjoy on Instagram. My card is for the monthly CASE It Hop on IG and I asked her permission to make a card from one of her many cards that I love. She graciously allowed me to make a similar card and this is what I came up with. Check out her card gallery and all the amazing designs she has there. She is so inspiring and creative.

When I saw Joy's card recently I kept it in mind for a card design to try this summer, and here it is! I once saw the shells in my set used with gold and I have been wanting to try it. I am glad I did. The shells are a two-step process using the solid stamp with a base color, then the detail stamp for a darker, or as I did, a heat embossed gold layer. I used soft colors while Joy used brighter beachy washes of color. I think our sentiments are similar fonts, too.

I made the shells first, then I die cut them. Next I stamped the swipes of color for the background using the same colors I did for the shells. Then I made the gold embossed sentiment and I added the shells either adhered directly onto the panel or popped up with foam tape.  I added the enamel dots instead of spattering color like Joy did because I am horrible at that technique! The panel is 3 3/4' x 5" and is popped up on foam tape on a white A2 card base.

What I used:

• Ellen Hutson Shells stamp and die sets
• HoneBee Seabreeze stamp set
• Stampin' Up! Work of Art stamp set, Gold embossing powder
• Versamark Watermark ink pad
• Concord & 9th ink pads
• Ranger Distress ink pad
• Powder tool
• Mama Elephant Matte White Enamle Dots (that you can add color to for matching your ink colors)

Take a minute to hop along with us. You can start with my account @sawithadtomakeit and hop along from there.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Carol

Birthday Splash

Pool time anyone? I saved a photo of a beach towel I saw online a while ago, and the other day I finally made a card of my own from the design. It took me back to my high school swim team days and I reminisced the whole time I was making it. I am playing along with the Inspired By Challenge #IB396 Poolside. I made the swimmers' bathing suits in the bright colors of neighboring schools' colors at that time and the pool colors are from the IB graphic aqua from the given color suggestions. I also used their layout design of horizontal rectangles.

Here is the West Elm pool towel that inspired my card.

My card is a "snapshot" view of  a bigger pool for a swim meet. I started by stenciling the pattern in the background to look like tiles on the bottom of the pool. I cut thin strips of striped patterned paper for the lane lines. After putting their suits and caps on, I put the swimmers in their lanes, then created a three layer edge around the pool. Finding a sentiment was easy since this is a topic that is a big percentage of my stash. I added dew drops for water splashes. 

Products I used:

• Simply Graphic Swimmer dies
• Pink and Main stencil
• Waffle Flower Nesting Rectangle Frames die
• Concord & 9th Dew Drops
• Avery Elle Splash stamp set
• Spellbinders frame die
• Distress ink
• Red and white striped patterned paper

Are you able to jump in a pool this hot summer?  Sounds good every single day lately!

Thanks for stopping in,

Carol