Happiness Comes in Waves

It's feeling like summer more each day and I am not holding back on bringing it into my cardmaking. The Freshly Made Sketches #732 challenge gave me bird's eye view beach umbrellas and here is my CAS card!

What I used:

• Waffle Flower Beach Umbrella die-n-stencil set, Postage Collage Beach Days stamp set

• Altenew Obsidian Black ink pad

• Pink and Main The Bright Side Glitter Enamel Shapes, Spring Glitter Enamel Shapes

• Ranger Distress and Distress Oxide ink pads

I ink blended the waves rolling in from the west onto white sand beaches. After stenciling the umbrellas and die cutting them, I ran them across the side of my desk to make them rounded, then popped them up on foam tape on the beach. The sparkly enamel shapes are fun in the center of each umbrella top. I stamped the sentiment and was done!

Spring break must be winding down, but the beach is always there for the locals.

Happy spring into summer!

Carol

Hi

It's time for a pretty moodboard at Just Us Girls #819 and Bobby chose this sweet spring inspiration for us all. Will you take elements or colors from it? The sentiment or season? I chose the pastel colors and flowers from the April Showers verse for my little coin purses. My dies are all from The Stamp Market. The purses are from the Coin Purse set and Hi is from Fintastic.

I die cut to my heart's content with shades of pink, blue, aqua, white and orange. It was really fun mixing and matching the purse, flower and clasp closure colors. I did a couple of silver clasps then branched out to the colors I already used. If you look at the orange purse, there is a single stitched flower die (that doesn't cut, it makes the pattern wherever you put it) and I moved it several times to create patterned stitching all over the purse.

Take time to check out the blogs of the whole team as well as our guest Rosemary to read how they were inspired by the moodboard. There are so many ways to go with this one!

Thanks for checking in,

Carol

All Kinds of Happy

Today I have a special card made with a beautiful Faded Botanicals paper gifted by the generous Stamplorations company, our Time Out Challenge sponsor for Challenge #311. I did not want to cut into this amazing paper, so I matted it with a dark grey cardstock to give it a frame.

Our challenge is a Pick Two theme (use at least two of our words in your design) using the following words:

Earth, Rain, Pastel, Hope, Tree, Bloom

I chose the words Earth, Hope, Bloom.

I also used a Spellbinders stamp set called Birthday Unboxing Sentiments and their Many Blooms and Sprigs die set. I added the little white die cut flowers with black centers for some dimension on the card and to go with the big bloom in the paper. My card is 5"x7" size.

Stamplorations is offering a $25.00 gift card to their store for our challenge winner and that person will also be invited to be our guest designer in a future challenge.

Karen Walker is our guest designer for this challenge. Click on her name to go to her blog for all the details on her beautiful card. Her work is always perfectly executed.

We hope you will take some "time out" and play along with us! Thanks for visiting!

Carol

Loveliest Day

I could not wait for these stamp, stencil and die sets to arrive and I wasted no time trying them out. The pink buildings and aqua water were inspired by the Baha Mar Hotel in the Bahamas as well as the Don CeSar Hotel in St. Pete Beach, Florida. 

I am playing along with the As You See It Fill in the Blank Challenge #370, "Besides Christmas, I mail more _____ cards than any other." For me that kind of card is encouragement. The kind of card I am talking about says Hello, Just Because, Hugs, Thinking of you, Miss you, Wishing you a nice day, to friends far away. They are happy, surprise cards. That's how I chose the sentiment for my card here.

What I used:

• Concord & 9th Seaside stencil pack, dies and stamp set, Ink pad
• Ranger Distress ink pads
• Stampin' Up! Classic ink pads
• Altenew Obsidian black in pad

It took a while to learn how to use the dies for the first time, but it was still fun to make this scene. I can't wait to make more versions with these products!

Hope you're having a good week,

Carol

Happy Place

I'm playing along at Inkspirational Challenge #365 Visual Prompt Sketch with a window of my happy place. If only we could just wish and have a beachy scene outside the window. So this card is an indoor view looking out. The lamp shines the light on the wish sentiment. 

Here's a view of the acetate in the window.

What I used:

• Stampin' Up! Hearth & Home Framelits dies
• MFT Floor to Ceiling patterned paper
• La La Land Crafts Summer Vacation Designer Paper
• Paper Smooches Get Out of Town stamp set
• Altenew Obsidian Black ink pad
• Acetate
• Black gems

I die cut the window, then added the acetate behind it. I cut the tropical scene to fit in the window opening and put foam tape between the acetate and the scene.

I made a 5" x 5" white card base and cut the "wallpaper" to that size for the front of the card.

The lamp is handmade. I used Post It tape to mask off the light shining down and ink blended yellow below the lamp.

I stamped the sentiment and matted it on black cardstock. It is popped up on foam tape to be at the same depth as the window. A few gems finished it off.

And that's it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Carol

You're Pretty Fintastic

It is time for the CASE It Instagram Hop where we Copy And Share Everything (or Copy And Selectively Edit) from a card we liked on Instagram. I chose my friend Richard's mediterranean-feel/fish/sardine can o'fish themed cards. The card you see here by me is my third attempt at something as fun as his cards. I just love the colors and designs he mixed together and the nautical feel you get from them. Here is my card.

And here is the card I CASEd from Richard's amazing card series. I also took his knotted rope design from his third card below.

More of his nautical/fish themed cards.

So my CASE uses shades of aqua, red, navy and white, is fish-centered (mine with patterned paper, his with fun embossing and ink blending) the knotted rope design, and a silver can o' fish like his does. 

What I used:

• The Stamp Market Sardines stamps and die sets
• Stampin' Up! patterned papers
• Matte silver cardstock
• Ranger Distress Oxide ink

The silver of the can isn't obvious in the photo but the inside, the key and the twisted back lid are all made with matte silver cardstock. The patterned papers are ones I have hoarded for years from SU! 

I hope you will go see our CASE Hop entries. You can start from here: @sawithadtomakeit. You have the opportunity to see the cards that were CASEd and how our group changed them in some way. I think it is fun.

Thank you for visiting!

Carol

Peace

It isn't December or the Christmas season, but it never hurts to make holiday cards at other times of the year. The Just Us Girls Challenge #818 Word Week is Spotlight Technique. I saw a really pretty card using an embossing folder of poinsettias with a stenciled ornament over it. I just loved it. I CASEd that card and here is my version.

What I used:

• Concord & 9th Ornament Stamp and Stitch dies
• Spellbinders Adorning the Tree 3D embossing folder
• Silver glitter cardstock
• Ranger Distress ink
• Rhinestones

I made a stencil using the ornament die and a piece of cardstock. I stenciled it onto the embossed panel, then added the hanger to the top. After die cutting the word peace, I traced around the die on vellum and fussy cut a mat for the word. I wanted a flat surface for adhering the word to the embossed surface. That's it!

We hope will join us for this blast from the past technique. It's a fun one.

Thanks for stopping by,

Carol

A Gift for You

Happy Easter weekend! It is time for the Gorgeous Gift Tags Instagram Hop for April 2026! The optional theme is Flowers. I made this mini bouquet that probably took as long as a tag with large flowers on it because it is fussy to arrange them with their small size. 

What I used:

• Reverse Confetti tag die
• Concord & 9th Weekend Market dies
• MFT Mini Messages stamp set
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad

Making a bouquet is fun but as nerve wracking as a real one. I fret over how many flowers and leaves to add and really you can't go wrong with this set. I like the die that cuts the paper wrapping around it and the real-looking stems peeking out below it. I die cut a bottom portion of the scalloped edge with a black patterned scrap to cover about 1/3 of the tag and matched the ribbon to it. The set comes with the cute little bow, too, to "hold" the paper wrapped around the flowers.

We hope you hop along this month, no Easter pun intended. Thanks for stopping by! You can start the hop at my Instagram: @sawithadtomakeit.

Carol

Hoppy Easter

It's time for an Easter card at Just Us Girls Die Week Challenge #817. We are looking for Spring/Easter cards made with dies. You need to see all of the cards the team and our new guest of the month Rosemary Dennis made for your inspiration! 

This die set was a good purchase in 2021 because I use it just about every year. It also makes a lamb and can be an interactive card with the special dies that came with it.

What I used:

• Spellbinders Spring Together die set
• Simon Says Stamp Bunny Trail stamp set
• Stampin' Up! Decorative Dots embossing folder
• Altenew Obisidan black ink pad
• Vellum
• Cardstock scraps

It was a fun die cut and embossed card to make with those cute characters! What will you make? Happy Easter and spring!

Thanks for stopping by!

Carol

Hey Sugar

This Inspired By round at Time Out Challenges #310 is going to be really fun! Our theme is Sweet Treats and there are lots of ideas for you from the team and our guest Dawn Turley. We are looking for projects that incorporate sugary, indulgent foods enjoyed as desserts, snacks, or rewards, offering instant enjoyment. 

I went with white chocolate-and-sugar-dipped strawberries as well as regular chocolate and white/pink chocolate candies. I added "sprinkles" of sparkly fun around the sweets on my card.

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 Dawn Turley of Dawn's World, and winner of Time Out #305 as Guest Designer. Be sure to visit her blog to read all about her card and how she was inspired by the theme.

What I used:

• Pretty Pink Posh Valentine Mug Additions die set
• Paper Smooches You make Life Sweet stamp set
• Hero Arts brown ink pad
• White glitter cardstock
• Picket Fence Studios Diva Hearts embellishment mix
• Ranger Distress Oside ink pads
• Concord & 9th ink pads

I started by ink blending on white card stock with the colors I needed, then die cut the strawberries and candies from that piece. I assembled the each of the elements, then arranged them on a pale pink panel of cardstock. I popped it up on an A2 hite card base with foam tape, then stamped and die cut my sentiment and added it to the card. Last, I added some iridescent sequins for sparkle and to fill in blank spaces.

We look forward to seeing your sweet treats in our gallery!

Carol