Happy Christmas

For Just Us Girls #803 we have Stencil Week! This Concord & 9th stencil, stamp and die set got here earlier than expected and I had to try it out right away. When I first saw it I wanted to try a Christmas scene first thing. I grabbed the Happy Christmas sentiment from Handmade Holiday (by C & 9th also) to have the main greeting on the card front. This scene looks like dwellings on a hill to me and I just love it. After stenciling, it was a lot of fun to add winter plants, railings and banners to the city block.

What I used:

• Concord & 9th City Block Bundle, Mini ink pads
• Distress and Distress Oxide ink pads
• Silver card stock
• Altenew Obisidian black ink pad

These stencils are easy to line up and they are made from a sturdy plastic. They don't bend and move while using them. I tried stenciling them to look weathered, then added shiny and glittery pots for the plants with silver railings for festive touches. 

I'm already working on other cards using these fun stencils. Come back to see other color combinations!

Please join us this week as it is the last Just Us Girls Challenge of 2025 for us. Stenciled cards can be quick and are fun to make. 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Carol

Christmas to do list

It's time for a holiday moodboard at Just Us Girls #802! I am the hostess this week. In the photo you can see lots of ideas for a jumping off point and the team has fun inpiration for you too. Don't forget about our guest this month, Leslie, either. I used the pine sprigs, ornaments, gift, stars and twine elements from the moodboard. Here's my card.

What I used:

• Reverse Confetti Tag die
• Simon Says Stamp Noted Holiday stamp and die sets
• Concord & 9th Handmade Holidays stamp and die set, Tree Topper dies. Mini ink pad
• Tim Holtz enamel dots
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad
• Twine

I need to get busy doing the things on this list as we head into Thanksgiving and soon after, Christmas! There are more fun sentiments in this stamp set like "gaze at the tree" and "write letter to Santa" and "buy new Christmas lights" that will be fun to add to other cards.

We can't wait to see the gallery fill up with seasonal cards using this moodboard! Come play along!

Happy Holidays!

Carol

Ho Ho Ho

This is my favorite time of year. It is the season of glitter, glimmer, and a pretty sheen on things and I did not shy away from it for this card. At Time Out Challenges #302 it is our Pick Two theme and the words are:  

Emboss, Movie, Nature, Corner, White, Sparkle.

I used  one of my favorite Christmas die sets called Ho Ho Ho from My Favorite Things and cut the sparkly stripes from white glitter cardstock. I love twine and added this stretchy version in red glimmer along for a festive little detail. I chose White and Sparkle from the list.

To enter a card in the challenge there must be at least two of the words used, or more if you wish, to be considered for the prize and voting for a guest designer spot in the future. I used White and Sparkle.

Some words may have a double meaning; for example 'Movie' could mean a cinema theme or a specific move title or theme!  In your post, please mention which words you have chosen and how they inspired you.

Our wonderful sponsor is Poppy Stamps with a generous offer of a $20 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 Margreet Burger of Margreet's scrapcards, and winner of Time Out #297 as Guest Designer. Be sure to check out her blog and those of the team for all the details on their cards.

We can't wait to see what you come up with for this challenge! We appreciate your participation in our challenges so much.

See you in the gallery!

Carol Mc

Happy Fall

I am so pleased to be a Guest Designer for Color Throwdown #845 where the colors are yellow, orange and green. I have some winter white pumpkins that I decorate my table with for Thanksgiving, so I made a similar one with patterned papers for my card. The challenge colors are all in the tablecloth with everything else being neutral.

I was in the mood for a clean and neutral look on my card and found the floral paper first, so I went from there. I made a "Pyrex" looking pie plate with some grey patterned paper and stole some of the floral background for the "pumpkin" pie. 

The colors for this challenge can be anything from florals to leaves or objects like candles, cups or sweaters. Play along with this one before the holiday baking and turkey cooking takes over!

Products I used:

• Papertrey Ink Pumpkin House dies
• My Favorite Things Sweet as Pie dies, Floor to Ceiling paper pad, Cement ink pad
• Pretty Pink Posh Giving Thanks stamp set
• Park Lane Travel paper pad

Thanks so much for the opportunity to guest, Color Throwdown!

Carol

All You Need is Love

It is Word Week at Just Us Girls #801 and our teammate Carol Mayne chose Winter!! This snow couple is having fun in the snow together passing the heart/love back and forth. We have a lot of inspiration for you, so stop by all the blogs, including that of our talented guest Leslie Miller.

I am also playing along at Inkspirational Challenges #354 Knit/Knitted for the knit cap and scarves the snow couple is wearing.

What I used:

• Sizzix Chilly and Freezy die set
• My Favorite Things Snow Swirls Cover up die
• Tim Holtz Small talk sentiment strip
• Glitter cardstock
• White glimmery cardstock

I die cut and assembled the snow people, then created a scene with them that is definitely winter time. The snow and the heart are sparkly and the wind swirls around them.

See you in the gallery!

Carol 

Stay Snuggly

Here is a late fall/early winter card I made the other day. I used quality Your Paper Insider cardstock and vellum for my card except for the cabin. The snow is a textured cardstock with subtle glimmer to it. The trees, rooftop and stars have non-shedding glitter in them. The alpine lake and mountains in the background are a light teal vellum over white cardstock. The card has lots of "feels" from smooth to sparkly! Even the trees have texture from the dies. I took a close up of the texture and sparkle.

What I used to make the card:

• Spellbinders Through the Woods dies, Cocoa Wonderland dies, Stay Snuggly stamp set

• Sizzix Tiny Snowglobes dies

• Simon Says Stamp Drifting Stitches Border dies

• Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside Borders dies

• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad

 Thanks for stopping by!

Carol

 

Sweet Surprises

It's time for the CASE It Instagram Hop for November! We are a group of online crafty friends who will be playing with the idea of Copy and Share Everything each month. I CASEd @craftyengineer's card for its cute houses all in rows and made mine for Christmas. I really like grid cards and @craftyengineer's happy design caught my eye. She is also in our CASE It group! Here is my card.

And here is @craftyengineer's card!

I copied her grid idea with a mat and the sentiment below it. Aren't her houses fun in the bright colors? I die cut my candy shapes instead of stamping them and lined them up into a tree formation. I hope I can find peppermint candy wrapping paper to go with it this year!

Products I used:

• Spellbinders Christmas Cocktails dies, Red shimmer cardstock
• Ellen Hutson Sweet Surprised stamp set
• Amazon candy sprinkles
• Copic markers
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad, Artist Markers in Red Cosmos
• Glossy Accents
• Clear glitter

After I colored, die cut and assembled the candy, I covered it with Glossy Accents and some glitter to give it shine and sparkle. The tree trunk is from a peppermint candy clay mix. I popped up the completed grey panel on a panel of the red shimmer cardstock, then on a white A2 card base. 

We hope you will visit the CASE It Hop and enjoy the way our group was inspired to make their own version of someone's card.

Thanks for visiting!

Carol

Be Merry

It's an exciting week at Just Us Girls #800 because it is our 800th challenge! We are celebrating with an Anything Goes theme for you and we have a wide variety of cards for your inspiration. 

To help with the celebration, some of the team members are giving away a prize on their blog. In order to win, you need to play in this challenge and also leave a comment on the team member's personal blog. To celebrate this milestone, Vicki is offering a $25.00 gift certificate prize to Simon Says Stamps! Check the other members' blogs for details on their giveaways. Not everyone is participating in the giveaway.

So, I got out this fun Sizzix Tim Holtz Thinlits set from last year and created a pop art style card with Santa celebrating the season. The pop art nature of this die is what drew me to it...that shadow!

What I used:

• Sizzix/Tim Holtz Be of Good Cheer die set
• The Stamp Market Candy Cane Christmas stamp and die set
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad

It takes a bit to die cut all the little pieces but they come together easily. The non-traditional colored Santas are popped up on foam tape and that's it for my card! This was a Diecember freebie die in 2024 if you made an order.

We hope you will join in our celebration and submit a card of your choice!

Thanks for stopping by...

Carol

Frosty Hugs

At Time Out Challenges #301 our theme is Inspired By: Your Favorite Holiday to Celebrate. I chose Christmas, obviously. The music, baking, shopping, decorating, pretty lights, family coming home, the Christmas spirit...I love it all! I made a little house decorated for the holidays with a snowman lawn decoration and a red roof that has snowflakes on it.

Our wonderful sponsor, Angie Blom Digital Designs, is generously offering a  $20 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 Stef Perry of Perry Papercrafts, and winner of Time Out #296 as Guest Designer. Her cards are always beautifully colored and this one is no different!

What I used for my card: 

• The Stamp Market House Maker dies
• Sizzix Tiny Snowglobes and Christmas Minis die sets
• Spellbinders Stay Snuggly stamp and die sets
• Gold cardstock
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad
• Patterned paper for the roof
• Vellum for windows

We can't wait to see what you create and the holidays you celebrate! See you in the gallery!

Carol Mc

Santa Tag

It is time for the monthly Gorgeous Gift Tags Instagram Hop for November with the optional theme of something vintage. I tried to chose vintage-y colors for my Sizzix Colorize Santa die set but he doesn't look very vintage to me. Vintage IS optional. He is a simple Colorize set to put together and...to add some fun I have him juggling sparkly snowballs! Be sure to hop through and see all the fun tags everyone made. You can find my Instagram account here.

I have him tied to a gift back already so the first gift of the season that fits gets this bag and tag. I need to go make more of these.

See you over at the hop!

Carol