Just Because

Here is my card for Woodblock Wednesday February 2026 using just one stamp repeatedly. It is a longtime favorite of mine from my days of Stampin' Up! and I have made very different cards each time I use it. I have about fifteen Elfa (brand) drawers of wood stamps and either can't part with many of them or still use them from time to time. I decided that it was about time to give this wood stamp some attention again.

What I used:

• Stampin' Up! Blended Bloom stamp, Classic ink pads
• Tim Holtz Idea-ology Small Talk sticker sentiments
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad
• Ranger Oxide ink pads

First I stamped the flower image several times on aqua cardstock and once more on a white scrap of cardstock. Then I started using different sizes of ink blending brushes to add color to this flower. I'm not very good at it, but watercoloring is even more daunting to me. I fussy cut the flower after coloring it, then popped it up on thicker foam squares to give it dimension on my card.

Happy spring whenever it hits your area...it is back to very warm temperatures here for a couple of weeks after some really cold weeks. I'm ready for spring, aren't you?

Thanks for visiting!

Carol

 

Big Birthday Wishes

This stencil set was begging to be used and I thought of it just in time for Ina's Stencil Week at Just Us Girls #812. It is feeling like spring (and summer here) so I added some flowers and leaves over the stenciled background. The 3D look that this stencil gives is an added bonus.

What I used:

• Pink Fresh Studio Mirrored Triangle stencil
• Concord & 9th mini ink pads
• Spellbinders Mini Blooms and Sprigs dies
• My Favorite Things Mini Messages and More stamp set
• Stampin' Up! ink pad
• Iridescent enamel dots

This stenciled design was the result of stenciling first on the front of the stencil. Next, you stencil again turning the stencil over to its back side, Next, you flip it top to bottom on its front, then back side. Make sense? After four layers of stenciling, I stamped and die cut a banner, then added the die cut flowers and iridescent enamel dots that pick up the colors in the flowers. I popped up the banner on foam tape for dimension and that was it!

We hope you will check out all of the team's blogs to read about their stenciled beauties. Don't forget to check out our talented February Guest Denise Morgan's blog as well to see how she created her great card, too. Last but not least, we look forward to seeing your stenciled projects in our gallery this week!

Thanks for stopping in,

Carol

Hugs

It's time for a moodboard at Just Us Girls #811 where Lisa chose this pretty and yummy treat-centered photo. It's full of inspiration: pink, white and brown pieces of chocolate, a warm drink with whipped cream on top, as well as sweet flowers. I went with the colors, flowers, and a loose interpretation of the wood pattern that the mug is sitting on in the photo.

What I used:

• Waffle Flower Rose Bouquet die and stencil sets, Nesting Rectangle Frames die
• Pink and Main Hugs die
• Spellbinders Color Essentials Gold gems
• Ranger Distress Oxide ink pads
• Patterned paper

The stenciling was quick and it was fun to see the flower details come to life. I cut the flowers apart and rearranged them on the card like one I saw on the WF site. There are so many ways to use the roses on cards and I can't wait to try more of them out.

We hope you will visit our guest Denise Morgan on her blog to see how she made her delicious looking card, as well as the team's blogs for more inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by,

Carol

Sew You

The latest Time Out Challenge #307 is a special photo challenge from our sponsor Kim Heggins, a former Time Out Design Team Member and owner of Running Stitch Designs. For the past several years, Kim has donated one of her marvelous handmade bags for this special challenge as both the inspiration AND the prize. My card was inspired by sewing and her striped and polka dot fabrics.

I used some of my favorite products from Concord & 9th to make a fabric store interactive card, complete with lots of bolts of fabric that match the awning on the store front, as well as a mannequin wearing a dress made from a fabric on the shelf in the store. This card is A2 size and folds flat to fit in an envelope.

What I used:

• Concord & 9th Pop Up Shopped stamp and die sets
• Pink and Main patterned paper pack, Banner dies
• Gold cardstock
• Acetate
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad

We are challenged to create something inspired by this bag handmade by Kim Heggins. The enlarged  photo will help you to see some detail for your project. How does this photo inspire you? The colors, stripes, polka dots, the shape...? Please let us know in your post how your project was inspired. We can't wait to see what you come up with!

We are joined this challenge by Michele Ferguson of I Card Everyone, and winner of Time Out #302 as Guest Designer.  Be sure to check out her amazing blog and Instagram as she is such talented and creative cardmaker. As always, visit our team's blogs to read about our cards and how we were inspired. 

Here is some information from the Time Out Challenge for you:

You have until 5:00 GMT (London), 12:00 Noon EDT (New York) on Wednesday, March 4th to upload your project using the Inlinkz below.  Make sure your link is a direct link to your NEW project, not just a generic link to your blog.

Please make sure you are actually following the challenge theme and be sure to add a bit of explanation how your project fits with the challenge. Per our challenge rules which you can find on the sidebar, please limit your combining of challenges to 5 total including ours. 

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

Carol

XO Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day! Here is my final card for this year's holiday and it is for someone very special. It started out as a card for the CASE It Instagram Hop for this month (and it still is) but as it materialized I had its recipient in mind each step of the way.

I was inspired on Instagram by @kikki.sch who is SO talented with papercrafting. You have to go see her card that absolutely knocked me off my feet. Look at her card below, but you have to go see it on Instagram. Your jaw will drop as she shows each facet of her beautiful card and then lights a match to reveal the last surprise. UNbelievable!!! She is so talented! I CASEd the colors and front flap design as well as the idea of opening the card more than once to reveal something new.

This is @kikki.sch's beautiful card!

What I used:

• Spellbinders 3D Embossing Folder of the Month, Jan 2023, Stitched alphabet dies
• Simon Says Stamp Love You Like stamp and die sets
• SugarPea Designs Card front Element Builder dies
• Paper Smooches Clipboard die, Notebook Paper stamp set
• Pink, white and red cardstock, ribbon and matte silver cardstock

I cut two A2 top folding card bases and adhered them so that one created a flap that opens up from the front as any top fold card does, then another that folds down from from the back bottom. You can see in the pictures how it works. I used a curved stitched edge die for my front flap. 

The title of this post could have been "Love you like..." but I love the XO on the front and went with that instead. The "Love you like" phrases inside were chosen for this particular recipient and she will surely chuckle when reading them. There are even more sentiments in the set to choose from too. 

We hope you will hop along and see how we were inspired to make our CASEs of others' cards. You can start at my account if you wish: @sawithadtomakeit. Happy Hopping and don't hesitate to treat yourself on this Valentine's Day!

As always, thanks for visiting here,

Carol

XOXO

I have been really busy this month and wanted to join Inkspirational Challenge #360 XOXO. I looked through my stash for an XOXO stamp and finally found one...and now it has gone missing off my desk. Sigh. Here is my honeycomb heart card with its own tag.

I've had this honeycomb paper pad (Inky Antics) for years and hadn't forgotten about it, but didn't have a reason to use it until now. I die cut a heart, then cut it in half. Then I die cut the heart again out of white cardstock and cut it in half to put one on each side of the closed heart. I added a thin piece of Velcro to the left back side so the heart can be held open or closed to put in an envelope.

The second photo is to show the gold touches on this pretty patterned paper by Park Lane. The stamp set with the tag and XOXO is from Avery Elle Beautiful Bow. I used gold embossing powder to complete them to match the paper. My card base is 5 1/2" X 5 1/2 " and top folding.

Valentine's Day is in two days, so are you ready? Treat yourself!

Thanks for visiting,

Carol

Valentini Time

This week is a fun Word Week Challenge from our sweet Carol Mayne for Just Us Girls #810: Valentine! You can make one for your offspring, your bestie, your sibling, your workmate, your fun neighbor or your better half. I still miss the days of elementary school when we decorated a bag or box for our classmates' Valentines to fill with their little cards. I got to relive it when our little elementary child was in grade school. So. Much. Fun.

Here is my card for our challenge where I kind of CASEd myself from last year but in new colors and textures. It gave the card a whole new look!

What I used:

• Sizzix Big Alphabet Simple Letters dies
• Spellbinders Olive Martinis dies, Christmas Cocktails dies, Rose Gold Glitter cardstock
• Sunny Studios Loopy Letters Lower dies
• Shiny Copper cardstock
• Picket Fence Studios Diva Hearts Embellishments
• Distress inks

Lots of die cutting and a little ink blending for the pink drink! I used rose gold glitter and shiny cardstocks on the pink card base. This is a sparkly card and a "grown up" Valentine. 

Visit the team's blogs and that of our guest Denise to see what inspired them to make their fun cards. We can't wait to see your Valentines in our gallery! Please join us!

Carol

 

Olive You

I recently saw a really cute kitchen towel with a similar print to what you see on my card. I thought the towel was so cute but resisted getting one. I kept thinking it would make a cute card and how I might be able to make it materialize. So here is my clean and graphic style card for a punny Valentine.

I am sharing it at The Card Concept #223b {Sweet Valentine} where I like their colors red, green, black and all the bright white in the background, plus the black on white LOVE words displayed in the photo. My sentiment is like the Our Nest sign above the window in the photo with a frame and simple lettering.

I looked all through my dies but I couldn't find the exact shape I envisioned for the olives, but I finally found one that could work. The sentiment probably exists in my stamps, but I used on of those big stamps that has the letters and numbers that you roll around and line up to spell something, then stamp it. So this card is completely handmade with a little help from a couuple of products. I used a Concord & 9th sign die (from the Pop Up Shoppe Base Dies) an old Stampin' Up! owl punch for the heart. The stamp I described is also from SU! 

Are you still making Valentines? I can't stop and will have some left over for next year I think!

Thanks for stopping by!

Carol

Valentine Tag

It is time for the February Gorgeous Tags Instagram Hop 2026! I used The Greetery's Mini Boxwood stamp and die set with Concord & 9th pink and orange inks for a Valentines-y little heart tag. The optional detail is the heart this month.

 

The die cuts out the center of the heart-shaped wreath so I die cut two white wreaths to adhere under the stamped ones for added dimension. I stamped the sentiments on those center pieces and inserted them back into the raised wreaths. The Concord & 9th enamel hearts worked perfectly with the space I had left on the My Favorite Things double-layered Trendy Tag. All that was left was to tie some ribbon and twine to the top!

We hope you enjoy the hop and feel free to start at mine: @sawithadtomakeit account.

Thanks for stopping by!

Carol

"Love" Heart-shaped Card

It's full speed ahead with Valentine crafting these days so I looked around for a color palette that I don't usually use...and I found a store-bought card online with trees and flowers (a Valentine) and took its color combination for my card today. For Just Us Girls #809 it's Die Week and Sue chose "Use a Heart" as an added requirement, so I cut a heart-shaped card base and went from there. Be sure to use a heart-shaped die somehow on your card that we can easily see. Be sure to check out all of the team blogs and that of our February guest, Denise Morgans, for lots of great ideas!

I am also playing along at The Paper Players PP771 Love is in the Air.

What I used:

• Spellbinders Blooming heart die set (December 2022), Self-adhesives Crystals gold mix
• Gold metallic cardstock
• Ranger Distress ink pad (insides of some flowers)
• White die cut card base

I took a white A2 card base and positioned the heart die on top of it with the round top edges of the die just above the fold so that it would cut a top folding, heart-shaped card. I chose the colors of cardstock I had in mind, then did a lot of die cutting from the heart, leaves, flowers and centers. All of the centers are gold metallic and it gives a pretty detail to the card. I used the "love" die in the set with the gold too. I couldn't resist putting a few tiny gems here and there to fill in open spaces.

Do join us this week with your die cut heart ideas! Can't wait to see the gallery!

Carol

Valentine's Day Hearts

Hello again! I hope you are warm and surviving this crazy winter weather. Let's switch our thoughts to Valentine month with a Pick Two for our next challenge #306 at Time Out! You can choose from these timely words:

Sparkle, Red, Heart, Pink, Aperture, Twine

I am using a new-to-me product from The Greetery that I have admired for a very long time. This Mini Boxwood Heart stamp and die set creates beautiful leafy wreaths with multiple colors using a two-step stamping effect. The die perfectly cuts around the leaves and cuts out an opening in the center. I stamped the accompanying sentiments on the center cut outs then stacked three wreaths high for each heart and replaced the center piece so it is recessed in there. I chose the words sparkle, red, heart, aperture.

I popped up the center heart on thick foam squares and backed it with sparkly gold embroidery thread. Last, I sprinkled a few pearls around it in order to focus on the "love you" sentiment. It's a dainty little card and is mini slimline size.

Our wonderful sponsor, Lawn Fawn, 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 Jenn Borjeson of StampinAngelJenn, and winner of Time Out #301 as Guest Designer. Stop by her blog as well as those of the team for all the details on their makes.

Come play along with these fun words right before Valentine's Day. The gallery is going to be festive and pretty!

Thanks for visiting!

Carol

XOXO Valentine Pouch

You can tell that it's February with all the decorations up in stores and handmade Valentines online! I ran across some adhesive-backed fabric with a Valentine print that I just had to use this week.

Sometimes you just want to make a treat or surprise of some sort for someone...a coworker, a neighbor, your offspring...filled with a note, little cookies, candies, a trinket. I went looking for a box or bag tutorial and stumbled upon this cute paper-folded pouch. It took minutes to make. A piece of patterned paper, adhesive-backed patterned fabric and glitter cardstock. It could be set on the breakfast plate or by the coffeemaker for a sweet surprise. 

I am playing along at Simon Says Stamp where the Monday Challenge is Add Some Texture and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes! The fabric is a very different texture than the smooth patterned paper, and the crinkled paper strips are a texture all their own. And finally, the glitter paper of the die cut stamp has a soft gritty feel to it!

Here is the tutorial from Miss Tracy Creates for the pouch. I used a Simon Says Stamp circle die to cut the top of the heart (folded double to cut both curved adges at once). I used my Concord & 9th Sweet Sayings Dies for the white sparkly postage stamp that imprints XOXO on it. I added a piece of hot pink cardstock behind it to fill in the cutout of a heart that this die makes. I added the fun adhesive-backed fabric (so old I don't remember the source) on the inside because my black patterned paper is not a two-sided design.

Happy heart season! Thanks for stopping by.

Carol