Corner Bakery

A few years ago we were visiting family in the St. Louis area and they took us to St. Charles one evening where we walked on actual cobblestone streets and where all the little businesses had decorated their store fronts and windows with pumpkins and other Halloween props. I took a few photos and have not forgotten how cute it was there. (See below) 

Here's a bakery I made today for our Just Us Girls Challenge #841 mood board with our hostess Vicki. I liked the pumpkins and takeout cup on the bottom of the mood board and went from there. Coffee and pastries, why not? (Chai for me, please!) Be sure to take some time to visit the blogs of our design team and our guest Julia to see how everyone was inspired to make their cards.

Real pumpkins carved to decorate a store inside and out. I remember the pastel decor inside this store and all of the fun decorations outside. I made a bakery because we visited one and got some yummy things to eat along the way down this street.

I used Concord & 9th Pop Up Shoppe dies and Poppystamps Pumpkin Patch dies. My card includes copper metallic card stock, thick acetate and card stock scraps. I stamped the bakery sign with Altenew Obsidian black ink. The card base is A2 and top folding. The bakery pops up, but folds flat to mail. I have made quite a few of these using different themes. It takes a lot of steps, but it's fun to see it come to life.

Thanks for stopping by and I can't wait to see what you create!

Carol

Wish You Were Here

We have a fun idea for you at Time Out Challenges #322 with our latest Inspired By theme. What are the Seasonal Colors Where You Live? I live in Florida, USA, where we do not have distinct seasons...sun and warmth almost all year, with less humidity in winter and it might get cool in winter (60 degrees F.) for a week or two in January or February. So I made a card with the pretty sunset and water colors we have most of the year.

We look forward to cards in our gallery from all over the world! The different hemispheres will give us a fresh perspective on seasons in other places. It should be an interesting challenge! You can take this current season or make a four seasons card if you like. Be sure to explain your card so we understand what you are portraying.

Our wonderful sponsor, Gina K, 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 Donna Phelan of Crafting By The Beach, and winner of Time Out #317 as Guest Designer. 

What I used to make my card:

• Pink Fresh Studio Coastal Paradise stamp, stencil and die sets
• Distress ink pads
• Concord & 9th ink pads
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad

I am in love with these Pink Fresh products! They stamp and stencil perfectly, cut beautifully! I can't wait to make more things with them. 

Thanks for visiting!

Carol

Deliver By December 25th

I have hoarded this one sheet of Pink Fresh patterned paper forEVER! I love the city map with the Christmas theme all over it. This is just a small portion of it. Inspired By #IB406 is Maps...and I couldn't resist using some of my coveted paper. My card mimics the girl on the street with its colors and a warmly dressed gift giver carrying packages somewhere. 

In the last picture you can see the legs that swing back and forth, which hopefully in this case isn't due to slipping on the snow. I popped her up a lot on foam tape to give the illusion of being closer than the streets behind her. I added stars, skates and sentiment puffy stickers in the same colors. I liked that the sentiment refers to delivering something by Christmas. I wish I had bought a few pieces of this paper. The back is pretty too.

What I used:

• Pink Fresh Studio Holiday Walk patterned paper (Oh What Fun suite), Happy Holidays puffy stickers, Diagonal Stitched Rectangles
• Spellbinders Shopping Spree dies

This is my first Christmas card of the fall season and I am getting the itch to continue. I have some that I made in July too. Hope you are crafting this weekend. I have to get some chores done, so I'm off!

Thanks for visiting!

Carol

Swimming by...

I am participating in the CASE It IG Hop for September 2026. We are a group of papercrafters who love our hobby and admire others' work so much that we ask them permission to Copy and Selectively Edit something they've made. This month I am CASEing Jane Taylor's (@purplejt) wonderful mermaid under the sea card. Using what I had on hand, I recreated her card. 

What I used:

• Honey Bee Stamps Swimming By stamp set
• Avery Elle The Reef stamp set
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad, Artist Markers
• Simon Says Stamp Wonky Stitched Rectangles die set
• Concord &. 9th Dew Drop Assortment
• Distress ink pads
• Rhinestones
• Watercolor paper

I loosely mimicked the water on her background with ink blending, I stamped some plant life in black. I wet my hand under the faucet and  flicked water on it. Instead of drops I got a mottled background. I ran the panel through my Big Shot to get the swirling stitching on it that reminds me of moving water.

I stamped and colored the mermaid and shells, then fussy cut them. After arranging and adhering them to the scene, I stamped the sentiment and added the embellishments for parkle and to look like air bubbles.

Hop along with us and see all the cards that were CASEd and the resulting "copies" of them by our group. You can start at my account, #sawithadtomakeit. It's a fun one to see how we made the original cards our own.

See you over there!

Carol

Have Candy Will Haunt

I don't think this cute little smiling ghost will haunt anyone, but it WILL find ways to get candy! This is a new Stamptember die set from Simon Says Stamp (along with the two adorable pumpkins from Poppystamps) and Simon's Reverse Spooky Halloween EZ Strips for the sentiment. I could not wait to use them and Freshly Made Sketches #753 gave me a reason to get started!

The little ghost has a cute house in non-traditional Halloween colors and I had to get a little orange in, so the house has pumpkins outside for decorations. I know I CASEd Donna's pumpkin card idea but I don't think she'll mind. 

Have you started your fall cards? Halloween? This card definitely got me in the mood to make. more like this one.

Hoping you have a nice weekend,

Carol

You Got This

A former coworker friend (who lives far away) and I text daily over our Wordle and Connections games. Our friendship goes back to about 1981 when we were new teachers. We got into rubber stamping back then, even doing long road trips to visit any new stamp store. Now that we have these online games we talk just about every day about anything and everything along with our latest game attempts. I am playing along at Inkspirational Challenges #375 Scrabble Tiles.

My second word "cover" is code for covering boo boos with bling...I usually smudge ink last minute on a finished card and have to cover it up. Insert eye roll.

What I used:

• Stampin' Up! Just Perfect Alphabet stamp set
• Waffle Flower Go Girl stamp set
• Hampton Art Stamps (wooden stamp) Alpha Collage stamp
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad
• Versamark Watermark stamp pad
• Concord & 9th Enamel Hearts

It took hours to come up with words on a theme to make this cardmaking-centered board. This is the second time I've made one and it is not easy! I cut my own squares and stamped each letter on them. I'm glad I had a use for a favorite alphabet (background) stamp! I don't care that the letters are wonky...it will still get two of the many things we share to her as a surprise in the mail.

Have a nice day!

Carol

Hello Sunshine

It is still boating season where I live and I wanted to use good old seaworthy Mr. Walrus again in bright colors. Our Just Us Girls Word Week #840 is "Bold" with Ina as our hostess. We are looking for any use of the word BOLD on your cards. Check out the team blogs and our September Guest Julia Aston's to learn about their cards. I learn a lot every week from their posts. 

What I used:

• Spellbinders Shipmates die set, La Dolce Vita sentiment die set, Cast Away 3D embossing folder
• Pink Fresh Studio Diagonal Stitched Rectangle dies set
• Card stock scraps

After embossing an A2 panel of white card stock with the net pattern, I got out some of my favorite vivid colors and die cut to my heart's content. It's like dressing a doll, getting to pick colors and patterns for his outfit!

We hope you will join us this week with something bold...like a sentiment, a statement, colors, designs. I think it will be a fun gallery!

Thanks for visiting!

Carol

Thanks

I love gold, silver or copper embellished card stock and I saw some today that I couldn't resist. Not only do the black papers have gold on them, the white/off white background does too!At Just Us Girls Challenge #839 Die Week: Thanks, we've got a good variety of ideas for you. Check out the team's blogs as well as that of our guest designer, Julia Aston. We hope you will play along...who doesn't need a thank you card? Mine is a masculine one, verified and certified (lol) by my husband.

What I used:

• The Greetery Pen Pal die set, Scripted Sentiments stamp and die sets
• Pink Fresh Studio Diagonal Stitched Rectangle dies
• Patterned papers
• Gold card stock
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad

I used the stitched rectangle die to created a mat for the black card front. Next, I die cut and assembled the pens and decided on placement of them on the front panel. I stamped and die cut the "thanks" and adhered it to the card front. The sentiments in this set are SO pretty and swirly. I "need" the Christmas one now. Lol.

We hope you will play along this week!

Thanks for visiting,

Carol

Love You More Than...

For our Time Out Challenge #321 the theme is The Movies. I thought long and hard and remembered this cute patterned paper...and went from there. For your projects, take inspiration from anything movie-related—from a specific film to movies in general, from the theater experience to the magic behind the scenes on a movie set.

Think about:

🎞️ Your favorite movie

🎭 A beloved character

🍿 Things you’d see in a movie theater

🎬 The behind-the-scenes world of a movie set

✨ Your favorite animated film

❤️ A live-action classic

🎄 A favorite holiday movie

👻 A spooky favorite

🌟 Or anything else that makes you think, “That belongs in a movie!”

You get the picture! 😉

Our wonderful sponsor, STAMPlorations, 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 Kim Heggins of kimheggins on Instagram as our Guest Designer for this challenge.

What I used to make my card:

• Ellen Hutson Mod Floral die
• Stampin' Up! Mini Treat Bag Thinlits dies, Perfectly Preserved stamp set, Summer Starfruit ink pad (all older products)
• Concord & 9th Love You More Than stamp set
• Sugar Pea Designs Card Front Builder stitched rectangle die
• Simon Says Stamp circle die
• Lawn Fawn Coffee Cup Gift Card Holder die
• Pink and Main Rectangles Patterns stencil
• Altenew Obsidian Black ink pad
• Marvy Uchida Puffy Velvet pen in white

I'll keep this as short as possible:

First, I made a trip to the craft store a couple of days ago for puffy paint...I forgot that it was liquid applique that I needed. I've used it before. It all worked out.

For the popped corn I remembered a floral die I have that has three and four petals on the many flowers in it. I die cut it once, then started adding puffy paint one by one and heating it. It looks pretty real.

I added yellow card stock behind each popcorn piece to fill in the openings on each piece (flower center). 

I stenciled stripes on a piece of off white card stock to match the patterned paper. I die cut the bag front from a SU! set to get that paper bag look.

Then I die cut a take out coffee cup shape for the body of the popcorn bag. I added my popcorn pieces one by one behind it with liquid glue, then a few that look like they fell out of the bag.

For the sentiment I grabbed my C&9th "I love you more than" stamp set and some message board letter dies from The Stamp Market. I die cut the whole alphabet and picked out the ones I needed for "movie night." I stamped a cob of corn with yellow ink on the circle. Then stamped the "I love you more than" at the top with black ink.

Next, I lined up the black letters on the circle (so fussy and stubborn!) and covered them with a piece of Press 'n Seal. I lifted this off the circle and turned it over. I added liquid glue on the back side of the letters. Then I turned the Press 'n Seal right side up and set it down on the circle where I wanted the words to be. I rubbed over it a few times with my finger, then carefully peeled back the Press n Seal. Et voilà, the label was complete!

Last, I adhered the label to the bag of popcorn and popped the bag up on foam tape to put it on the die cut patterned paper on the card base.

Whew!

We hope you will join us for this movie challenge. Read the description on the Time Out blog and peruse the DT's blogs for ideas!

Can't wait to see your cards!

Carol

Just Chillin'

It's time for our Just Us Girls Challenge #838 Anything Goes Stencil Week with Denise as our hostess! It took me a few tries to get this Pretty Pink Posh stencil set to look the way I wanted. In the end, shading helped as well as a monochromatic look like I saw on their website.

What I used:

• Pretty Pink Posh Layered Summer Drinks Stencils
• Sizzix Happy Hour die set
• Pink and Main Large Sentiment Strip dies
• Ranger Distress ink pad in Peacock Feathers
• Poppystamps Life is Sweet stamp set (older)
• Various other ink pads and card stock scraps
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad
• Silver card stock

It's funny but the stenciling looks almost like an Xray to me. I didn't want the background to overpower the die cut drinks so I stenciled lightly with just one color. I wanted the fun bright drinks to take center stage.

We hope you will grab some stencils and play along with us this week!

So happy you stopped by!

Carol

When Life Gives You Lemons

Today is a rainy, thunder and lightning kind of day. I was working on a Christmas project and I saw the Freshly Made Sketches #750 Challenge. I got a related idea for a card. Squirrel! I dropped the other project and made this card. It took a lot of steps in the process but my cozy card is finished and I can get back to the original project that you'll see later in the fall. 

(The book is written by Mark Kay Andrews, first published by St. Martin's Press on May19, 2015. I picked it up to read as soon as we moved back to Florida and I see that the paperback released May 3, 2016, which is the same timeframe that I saw it and bought it. It's a good book and one of her many that are set in the south.)

I made a little book with a piece of foam sheet inside to make it look like a real book. I love this Creature Comforts die set from MFT and have used it a lot with the spoon, cup, glasses and a cell phone. I always make the spoon silver and use vellum for the tea bag for fun.The sprig of leaves is from The Greetery Cozy Cup stamp set. I used Hero Arts and Concord & 9th mini ink pads to ink blend the die cuts. The "napkin" is also from The Greetery. I've used it a lot as well. The knit patterned stenciling is Concord & 9th from the Stay Cozy Stencil pack. Finally, the cute sentiment stamp and die set is from  the My Monthly Hero Kit July 2026.

I hope you are having a relaxing Sunday. If I am forced to be inside by weather, I can't think of a better thing to do than make cards!

Thanks for visiting!

Carol

Thanks Friend #2

It is Mood Board week at Just Us Girls #836 and Lisa has a fall-inspired challenge for us! I took the three butterfly colors from the photo (but lighter shades of orange, yellow and teal) and paired them in a butterfly made of butterflies. I recently posted a card with this sentiment and I needed something small again, so here it is on repeat. You can use anything pictured or the overall theme or feeling you get from the photo. The team has lots of creative ideas for you, so stop by each blog to read about how they approached and completed their cards. Our guest designer Betty also has a wonderful card she designed for the challenge, so don't miss her on your blog visits!

What I used:

• Poppystamps 2779 Nordic Whisper Butterfly dies
• Tiny butterfly punch from years ago
• My Monthly Hero: When Life Gives You Lemons stamp and die sets
• Ellen Hutson A2 Piercing Plate 2
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad
• Ranger Distress Oxide ink pads

I die cut the Nordic butterfly base dies first. Next, I watercolored with Distress Oxide ink on a piece of watercolor paper in the three colors I wanted the little butterflies to be. After I dried this sheet with my heat gun, I punched LOTS of little butterflies and folded them in half. I adhered them to my big butterfly in deliberate sections and facing all directions. I only adhered the fold of the little ones to the butterfly base so that they would stay bent upward, looking like they are fluttering around. 

I created a Z-fold card base and die cut panels for it with my piercing plate. I adhered those to the front flap and inside back of the card base. I also cut one for the focal point square. I matted the square with black card stock, then popped up the butterfly with foam tape.

Last, I stamped and die cut the sentiment and adhered it to the front flap. There is space on the inside and back of the card for writing a message. 

We hope you will join us this week with the fun fall feel of this mood board!

Thanks for visiting!

Carol

Always Take the Scenic Route

It's a new challenge at Time Out Challenge #320 and we have a beautiful photo from teammate Katherine of architect Antoni Gaudí's Basilica Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain. I decided to take the idea of bright colors seen through a window. Stop by all of the team's blogs to read how they made their cards as well as that of our Guest Designer Jane Taylor of Purplejet!

Here's what I used to make my card:

• Spellfbinders Vista View Window dies
• Lawn Fawn woodgrain card stock
• La La Land Summer Vacation Paper Pack
• Tim Holtz Idea-ology sentiment strips

I die cut three windows to stack for dimension. I skipped the acetate this time because it is so hard to photograph! I traced the window perimeter on the scene I chose, then fussy cut it to fit behind the panes. The view has many of the same colors as the photo but is tropical instead of stained glass.

I wanted to add texture to the "walls" surrounding the indoor windows, so I chose the woodgrain card stock. Then I chose a sentiment and liked this one with "scenic" in it!

Our wonderful sponsor is Top Flight Stamps, 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.

We anticipate a beautifully colorful gallery this round and can't wait to see what you create! Thanks for stopping by!

Carol

Boo!

Hello! I guess it is time to think "fall" and get some projects made. Sunday Stamps SSC392 Framed Focus inspired me to create a shadow box following their sketch. Here's my take on it.

I've made shadow boxes before and they are not too complicated. For this one I added the patterned paper to the sides to follow the  horizontal part of the sketch and ghosty patterned paper inside for the vertical part of the sketch. I popped up the jack o'lantern on a popped up rectangular "box" and adhered the clouds to each other, then the sides of the frame. (I die cut both clouds twice to make them sturdy.) I wanted a sentiment so I stamped and fussy cut the BOO! and a teeny ghost to pop in the corner. The finished shadow box is about 7" x 4 1/2" and 1/2" deep.

What I used:

• Sizzix Edison Colorize dies
• Stampin' Up! Spooky Bingo Bits stamp set, patterned paper (pumpkins and shadow box)
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad

There are lots of different sizes of shadow boxes on Pinterest and the tutorials have photos to follow. My next one will be square!

Have you started fall projects yet? I may still make summery ones but not for long. Happy summer's end and beginning of fall.

Thanks for stopping by,

Carol

Starfish in a bottle

It's time for Word Week at Just Us Girls #836 and Water is the theme! There are so many ways to go with this word from bodies of water, to a drink in a glass, to rain, to waterfalls. The sky's the limit. I decided to make an underwater scene in a bottle with several different products across brands. The team has lots of great ideas for you so hop along from blog to blog and play along with us! Our talented guest Betty Keefe is on board as well.

What I used:

• Birch Press No One Like You stamp set
• Spellbinders Whale in a Bottle die set
• Simon Says Stamp Under the Sea Animals stamp and die sets
• Altenew Artist Markers
• MFT Wave dies
• Archival Ink Cobalt. ink pad
• Cork "card stock"
• Sequins from lots of sources
• Twine

Some of the details: I decided on a shaker version of this bottle so it took quite a while to make this card. The starfish is on the outside of the window to stand out from all that is going on in the water. This cork is a longstanding part of my stash and I love to use it as a realistic element on cards.

We hope you will join us this week to make the gallery awash (pun intended) with water!

Thanks for stopping by!

Carol

Thanks Friend

Summer is passing so quickly and my teacher friends have to get ready to go back to school very soon. This card is for a world traveler friend of mine that I get to see in August! Just Us Girls #835 is Die Week and Anything Goes with dies. I LOVE this Hero Arts set, even with the teeny tiny eyelashes and mouth. I couldn't help pairing it with my seaside scene stencils!

Take a stroll though the team's use of dies for some fun reading and inspiration. Our August Guest Designer is Betty Keefe and she has a beautiful die cut card for you, too. We love to be inspired by your cards each week, too!

What I used:

• My Monthly Hero July 2026 Kit
• Concord & 9th Seaside stencils, Mini ink pads 
• Altenew Obsidian black ink pad
• Red glimmer metallic and silver holographic card stock
• SU! patterned papers

I went looking for red card stock for the scooter and ran into a scrap of this glimmery red that I just love. (Source unknown) Then I found a scrap of holographic silver for parts of the scooter and another glittery piece for the lights. I just had to make her glasses match the scooter, too. I wanted to pop her up on a wobbler, but it stands way too high off the card. The second photo above shows the glimmer and sparkle better.

The scenery is ink blended lightly so that she could take center stage but I wanted the water and sky to match well with her dress. I made a couple of boo boos, but I wasn't going to start over after the die cut portion was adhered and they might escape the eye.

Come play along with us with your die cut creations!

Carol

Adventure Awaits You

It's time for our Pick Two Challenge at Time Out #319 which gives you six prompts to choose from to make a card. Use at least two of the words or all six! They are: Monochrome, Geometric, Floral, Stitching (faux or real), Birthday and CAS. I chose Geometric and CAS with the triangular waves, sails and sentiment, as well as the round sun. 

Newton's Nook is our generous sponsor for this challenge, offering a $25.00 store credit to our winner. The winner of our challenge will be invited to be a Guest Designer in a future Time Out Challenge, too!

Our Guest Designer for this challenge is Heather Heroldt, of Handmade by Heather, and winner of Time Out #314 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 this card:

• Spellbinders Colorblock Landscape dies (2021)
• Memory Box Marina Sailboats dies
• Tim Holtz Ideaology Small Talk sentiments

I used the sun rays to make a gradient sea and sunset, and the circle to make the sun. The Sailboat is black to be a silhouette and the sentiment is black to match it. I hope it fits the clean and simple definition close enough...it has clean lines and white space.

Come play along with us! See you in the gallery?

Carol