Winter Greetings

With cold weather all over the country I thought I should make a snowy scene for this week's Just Us Girls Challenge #806. We have a moodboard from Vicki and I chose to capture a closeup of the New Yorker magazine cover in the bottom right area. The team has a variety of creative ideas for you this week! And our guest this month, Laurel Seabrook, has something special for you as well. Stop by their blogs to see what they've made.

What I used:

Memory Bow Oval Snowman Collage die

Poppystamps Holiday banners stamp and die sets

Waffle Flower Snowflake Background die (snowflakes)

White glitter cardstock

Concord & 9th ink pads

Altenew Obsidian black ink pad

Copic and Sharpie markers (face and arms)

My card front is made with one die, plus snowflakes from another cover die. So I die cut the scene, ink blended it, then popped it up on foam tape to a white glitter cardstock panel. That panel is sparkly!

There is a lot to be inspired by in our moodboard and we look forward to seeing what you create. Hope your new year is off to a good start and that you are staying warm!

Carol

Happy 2026

I like to come up with at least one New Year card idea every year and the CASE It Instagram Hop came just in time for me to make a card of my own inspired by someone on Instagram. Each of us in the hop finds a card on Instagram that we want to Copy And Selectively Edit. This month I am CASEing Nat of @natspaperworld and two of her cards using the Concord & 9th Handmade Holiday die set. I love how she gave her cards a frame, then added the hands and arms doing the holiday activities. Her Christmas card is especially festive, isn't it? Her second card is for a new year greeting and is just lovely, too. Check out her Instagram account...she is so creative and talented!

Here are Nat's cards that caught my eye.

This is her Happy New Year card.

What I used:

• Concord & 9th Handmade Holiday die set
• Sizzix Number die
• Waffle Flower Nesting Rectangle Frame dies
• Stampin' Up! Star Border punch
• Spellbinders gold gems, Gold shiny and gold glitter cardstock
• Patterned paper
• Vellum
• Black Glitter cardstock

The elegant patterned background is actually a black and gold, very striking design. It was too busy for a background for the little arms and hands so I covered it with vellum, then cut a smooth gold metallic frame and one out of a sticky back foam sheet to give it dimension.

Originally I die cut gold shiny numbers out of the same cardstock as the frame but it was too much gold, so I went with the black glitter cardstock instead and I really like it a lot better. 

The stars, bell and bracelet are cut from glitter cardstock and the lacy sleeve edge is gold vellum. I added a few gold gems for a bit more sparkle and shine.

I am also playing along at Inkspirational Challenge #358 Shine/Shiny.

Hop along with us! You can start at my Instagram account: @sawithadtomakeit if you like. Happy hopping and...

Happy New Year!

Carol

Things You Love

Thanks for stopping by today! Our latest Just Us Girls Challenge #805 is Word Week and Elizabeth chose Encouragement for us to add to our cards. This is the type of sentiment we all have in our stash so we hope that lots of you will participate this week!

Elizabeth shared this Nordic Crown Flower die set with me and it is so pretty, isn't it? I die cut it out of white cardstock then ink blended the colors I wanted it to be. I grabbed my Ellen Hutson A2 Piercing Plate 2 for the background and my trusty Tim Holtz Idea-ology adhesive-backed sentiments.

Be sure to visit our January guest Laurel's wonderful blog as well as those of each team member. It's a great place to learn about products and techniques to try, or ones you haven't done in a while.

See you in the gallery!

Carol

A Little Bubbly for the Bride

Happy New Year! We have lots of news at Time Out Challenges, so read all the way to the end of this post to find out all that we have in store starting with our first challenge of 2026.

Today's project is a sparkly 5" x 5" square card that I made for a "Pearls and Prosecco" themed bridal shower my daughter attended and it is also for our Time Out #304, where our theme is All That Glitters! I wish that you could see just how it twinkles in the light. First is the gold "bubbly" and then the sparkly light grey cardstock behind the champagne flutes through the acetate window. I used tiny pearl hearts as bubbles. I took lots of photos to try to capture the sparkle, so look closely. I promise you that the card has a lot of pretty shimmer to it.

And for our 2026 new year of challenges we have our new Design Team Member, Jaydee of Stampin' with Jaydee. Please welcome her and visit her blog of beautiful creations.

Our wonderful sponsor, GinaK Designs, is 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.

Also, we are joined by Heather Heroldt of Handmade by Heather, and winner of Time Out #299 as Guest Designer. Heather is a very talented designer and a frequent and loyal Time Out participant. We always love to see her work in the gallery, and we greatly appreciate her support. Treat yourself to a stroll through her BLOG for some wonderful inspiration!

What I used to make my card:

• My Favorite Things Pop the Champagne die set
• Reverse Confetti Sunburst die
• Circle dies
• Park Lane Pearl enamel hearts
• Simon Says Stamp heavy acetate
• Spellbinders Gold Metallic cardstock

Come play along. You could win our Gina K designs prize and be invited to be a guest designer at Time Out in a future challenge!

Happy 2026!!!

Carol

Happy Birthday! Hooray!

I am having so much fun playing with different versions of this Concord & 9th City Block stencil set. In my mind I wanted to try cutting it apart and popping different layers up to look like separate buildings. This card is just that, but I don't know if you can tell in the photo. The colors came about from a photo I saw of a sunset in a city reflecting on buildings. I'm playing along at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where they say "add a sentiment" so I sneaked in two of them in the form of banners on the buildings.

I also used the Concord and 9th City block stamp and die sets. I inked up the buildings with Distress/Distress oxide inks, and Concord & 9th inks as well.

I used black cardstock for the railings and an Altenew Obsidian black ink pad for the stamping.

It took me forever to decide on placement of the windows and railings. I wanted to keep it simple. I omitted the doors this time.

I have another version coming soon in a different shaped card. Stay tuned!

Carol

Sip Sip Hooray!

Happy New Year! How can it be 2026?!! My celebratory shaker tag is for the January 2026 Gorgeous Gift Tags Instagram Hop with the optional theme of Icy. My daughter was getting together with friends recently and sent a photo of their drinks. The pink French martini has a frosty/icy look to it, no doubt from being prepared "shaken" for an icy cold beverage that won't be diluted by ice. So, I had my tag idea for this month!

And here is the inspiration for my tag.

What I used:

• Spellbinders Olive Martini dies, Cheers Sentiments
• Stampin' Up! Snowflake and Sequin shaker bits
• Picket Fence Diva Hearts embellishments
• Ranger Distress ink
• Silver cord

I created a see-through shaker and filled it with the snowflakes and sequins that can be seen from the front and back of the tag. I assembled the glass and added a few iridescent sequins for sparkle. The silver cord stretches easily right over the top of the bottle's neck.

There are more details about the hop on Instagram.You can start hopping with us on my Instagram @sawithadtomakeit. The ladies in our hop do great work, you don't want to miss it.

Happy New Year!

Carol

'Tis the season to be freezin'

Happy New Year! Can't believe it is 2026 already. It's officially winter and even down south we are getting a cold blast this week! Taking down Christmas decorations won't be bad since we will want to stay inside. I made a bunch of ski caps in bright colors as a cheerful accessory for those who might need a hat to do outdoor activities. At Just Us Girls #804 it is Die Week and our lovely hostess Elizabeth has added the requirement to Use a coverplate (die, letterpress or hot foil) to your card.

I used all Concord and 9th products for my card: Basket Weave Card Front die, Sweater Season stamp and die sets and Enamel Hearts. It was fun to choose colors then die cut to my heart's content. I used fuschia (not red like the photo looks), light pink, bright green, teal and aqua. Next, I got to pair up different color combinations to decorate them!

We look forward to seeing your cover dies and plates used on your cards this week. Hope you had a great holiday season and here's to a happy and healthy 2026!

Thanks for stopping in!

Carol