Get Your Sparkle On!

Whether it's a birthday party, a jewelry party, a dressy occasion, no particular reason or something special, it's always fun to add some accessories like bracelets. The Inspired By Challenge #IB400: "Bracelets" has a reason to celebrate...400 challenges!! Here is my party with all the glitz and shine from the bracelets worn by all the ladies. I was inspired by the colors, but of course the bracelets!

What I used for my card:

• Concord & 9th Handmade Holiday dies
• Ellen Hutson Spread the Sparkle stamp set
• My Favorite Things Pop the Champagne die set
• Sequins, pearls, enamel dots
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad
• White glitter card stock
• Silver glitter card stock
• Gray glitter card stock
• Teal Glitter card stock
• Cork adhesive sheet
• Pink and Main patterned paper (bottle)

Trying to use the challenge colors and lots of subtle sparkle, I die cut all the arms, then started adorning them with embellishments and die cut bracelets. I ink blended the arms a bit for shadow. The two silver bangles are free-moving for an interactive detail. Some of the arms are popped up on foam tape for dimension and the flying cork is made from some cork "paper" I've had forever. I was also inspired by my JUGS teammate Denise Morgans, @dennymor who always adds details from the front of her card to carry over inside her cards. In my case, the sentiment had to be split up over the front and inside to fit!

Can you hear the party music playing? 

Thanks for stopping by!

Carol

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

Good Times and Tan Lines

Our Just Us Girls Challenge #831 Word Week is all about Play. I had a couple of options but I just love Colorado Craft Company drawings by Anita Jeram and went with her Beach Life stamp set. These little animals are definitely having a good time playing in the sand at the beach. I remember as a kid when burying someone in the sand was a fun thing to do. I was into sandcastles and collecting shells. Here's my card with its crude colored pencil skills.

The products I used:

• Colorado Craft Company Beach Life stamp set
• The Greetery Postage dies
• Papertrey Ink Build a Sailboat die set
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad
• Prismacolor colored pencils
• Wink of Stella pen
• White Signo pen

I stamped the images, then colored for an evening and the next morning. It's not great, but you get the idea that there are bright colors amongst the animals and their beach tools, and more subdued colors in the sand, surf and sky.

Be sure to visit the team's blogs for all the details and why they chose something for "play" as the theme. Our guest for July is Bonnie and she'd love for you to stop by her blog as well! Please join us with your version of play: You can play an instrument/music, play a board game or sport, play a character in a play, play the lottery, etc. We can't wait to see the gallery!

Happy Summer!

Carol

A Breath of Fresh Air

Hello there! Thanks for stopping by. This card was a labor of love. These die sets have lots of die cutting and there is stenciling and stamping as well, but they are fun and offer lots of options for different versions of cards.

Our Time Out Challenge #318 is Inspired by Water, and there are so many possibilities for a card such as a lake, ocean, pool, a glass full of water, rain, a vase full of it, etc. We hope you will have fun making a "water" card and join us for this challenge. My card is about being by the water. Whether living there or staying there briefly, it is my kind of place to be.

Our guest this time around is Kathy Asper of myasperations, and you will want to read about her card on her blog, as we invite you to do with each Time Out team member. I learn new techniques from the team and guests and learn about them as people with the stories they tell. It is worth your time to visit their blogs.

Our wonderful sponsor is our own Design Team Member, Jaydee. She is generously offering Pinkfresh Studios Berries & Blossoms Stamp, Die & Stencil Bundle as the prize for our Challenge Winner.

What I used to make my card:

• Concord & 9th Seaside stamps, stencils and dies, ink pads
• Spellbinders Beyond the Door dies
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad
• Stampin' Up! Classic Ink pads
• Ranger Distress and Distress Oxide ink pads
• Silver card stock
• Blending brushes

My card is two A2 card bases with the second one adhered to the back of the one on the left. I cut the doorway out of the front of the first A2 card base. The stenciled panel is adhered to the back of the second card base. Does that make sense? 

If you have any questions, comment below this post and I will be happy to reply.

We hope you will join us with an interpretation of water as you wish. It's he perfect time of year for this topic.

See you back here soon,

Carol

By The Sea

If you know me at all you know I love beaches, shells, palm trees, nautical, etc. The colors and beachy feel of the Inspired By #IB395 had my attention as soon as I saw the photo! So here is my shells and sea card for their challenge.

The photo reminds me of birthday cookies my very talented neighbor made me a couple of years ago...soft almond flavored beauties!

What I used for my card:

• Hero Arts Sophisticated Shells die set
• Sizzix Vacation Words Block dies
• MFT Sand and Surf dies
• Vellum
• Card stock scraps
• Glue dots

I had fun making the two-layered shells in colors from the challenge photo. Next, I die cut aqua card stock with a wave die arranged at different angles on my card stock so that no two waves were the same shape or width. I attached the waves to the darker aqua panel, then scattered the shells around. I got the idea to put the sentiment (cut out of gold card stock) on vellum to sit over the water and shells. And that's it!

Thanks for visiting and hope your summer is relaxing!

Carol

Santa Claws

It's time again for the Gorgeous Gift Tags Instagram Hop! This month the optional theme is Christmas in July, which I fully embraced. Since we live not terribly far from the beach, I make these kinds of Christmas tags (in addition to more traditional ones) every year, adding to our collection.

What I used:

• Sizzix Christmas Characters stamp and die set
• Reverse Confetti Tag set
• Pink and Main Large Sentiment Strip dies
• Distress ink pad
• Hero Arts Hero Hues ink pad
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad
• Ribbons

The Santa Claws die pieces are easy to put together and there are endless color combinations you can go with, of course. I have gotten SO much use out of this tag die set with the scalloped edge, decorative circle reinforcer and two dies that say "for" and "you."

I ink blended sand, water and a sunny sky, then misted it with water to get a grainy look like sea mist, which is visible in person but not so much in the photo. Then I stamped the dots for sand by inking up an old dotted SU! stamp, stamping off once on a scrap of paper, then stamping on the sand area of the tag several times.

I grabbed some natural looking ribbon and a frayed aqua one to make the ties for the tag. The crab is popped up on foam tape so he can look like he's crawling around.

We hope you will hop along and see all of the tag ideas this month. You can start at my account: https://www.instagram.com/sawithadtomakeit/.

Thanks for visiting!

Carol

Floppy Hats & The USA

I set out to make a 4th of July, Happy 250th Birthday America card but my patriotic sentiment stamps are an older style and they didn't quite fit the scale of the card I made. I have gotten so much use out of this summer sentiment set from Simon Says Stamp and I still have a lot to go.

Wherever you go for this holiday, or if you make it a staycation, wear your floppy hat out in this crazy heat!! I am playing along at Simon Says Stamp Stars and/or Stripes Monday Challenge as well as The Card Concept 228a with my clean and layered 4th of July-influenced card. I played off of the feel of their graphic for the summery/nautical, vacation and holiday spirit it has.

STARS AND/OR STRIPES

What I used:

• Papertrey Ink Go-to Gift Card Holder: Beach Bag dies
• Simon Says Stamp Sentiment Strips Summer
• Stampin' Up! Stars embossing folder
• Red rhinestones

The embossed stars are obvious in the design, and the stripes are in the stitching on the hats' crowns and brim edges. The hat has two dies, plus the bow. I die cut the top of the hat out of white for the bands around the crown. I fussy cut just the stitched part of that crown for the bands. The bows and rhinestones add detail to the hats in patriotic colors. I added the sentiment that I could only use on a hat card like this.

Happy 4th of July! Happy Birthday America!

Thanks for visiting,

Carol

Happy Summertime

I love purses, beach bags and other sorts of accessories. This tote bag set from Papertrey Ink is an older one that I did not use the past two to three summers, but for our Just Us Girls Die Week #830 "Forgotten Favorite" I decided I had to get it out to play. Here is the beach bag I came up with for the challenge, which is a gift card holder as well! The team has a big variety of cards for you with stories that go along with them, so be sure to visit their blogs and read up on each card. Bonnie Klass is our Guest Designer for the month of July, so visit her blog as well!

What I used:

• Papertrey Ink Go-to Gift Card Holder: Beach Bag dies
• Simon Says Stamp Summer Sentiments
• Patterned papers
• Hero Arts Hero Hues Core ink pads
• Ranger Distress Oxide ink pads
• Vellum
• Foam tape

The longest part of the process is choosing colors and papers for the bag and accessories. I started with the gray tropical patterned paper, then chose the rest of the colors by pulling out colors in the paper.

I used a favorite tropical leaf patterned paper for the background, but covered it with vellum to soften the look and not fight with the bag's pattern. I cut some sand, ink blended it, and stamped off some granules of sand on it.

I love seashells and had to add a few, so those were die cut and ink blended too. Tassels are in fashion these days on purses, totes, wallets, so I added one to the bag.

This was a fun card to put together and I hope you will get out some older dies that you haven't used in a while, but still love. See you in the gallery!

Carol