A Hyacinth For July 2026 CCC

 

Hello!

A newbie stamp arrived the other day and I had to ink it up right away. Hyacinth by Newton's Nook is a flower kind not yet in my collection of flower stamps. I've seen many crafters use this so I just had to have it. In retrospect, I should have bought the matching die. I like the card I made, but fussy cutting the flower was horrendous. Forgive my photo...I just noticed the tip of the flower came unglued. The card is on the way to Germany!

For entering my card to The Card Chain Challenge for July, I chose this Color Palette Option. The kraft cardstock is by SU, the Hyacinth stamp is colored with Distress Oxide in Wilted Violet. On the vase I used Encore Gold ink. The sentiment is from the SU set Sunshine & Tulips. The color I chose for this blossom suggestion doesn't match but that's ok. The rules say that exact matching isn't required. 

The vase die is an oldie from Spellbinders that I have had for years. To anchor the vase, I cut a piece of white with a NBUS Honey Bee die set called Lovely Layers: Wrap it Up.

To finish, I again used one of my favorite embossing folders on the card front. It is called Petal Burst and after adding my focal items I was done.

 Inside I stamped a single flower like the ones above and wrote a little note to Imke.

It had been hot and humid and a little rainy here in MN for July so far. I am ok and glad to spend time at my craft desk in air conditioning. 

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again.

An Eclipse Card

 Hi Again!

Here is my first try at making an eclipse card and I like it. It is not CAS or else I would have linked it to the new CAS Mix up Challenge. Next time.

A bit ago I was playing with inking up embossing folders. This one used Distress Oxide Picked Raspberry. I think - I don't really remember. Anyway, I do know the embossing folder is an old one retired from Memory Box called Breezy Bouquet.

I took my new Waffle Flower's Just a Note Word Die to do the eclipse. It is new, so am adding this card to NBUS #88. I appreciate Waffle Flower for making such wonderful designs! 

The white A2 size card base is embossed with an oder SU folder called Painted Textures. Available many places online.

I layered another Just a Note die cut underneath the main one for some dimension.

Making my eclipse card was fun and I will do another soon. I have oodles of embossing folders, I bet you do too. :-)

More hot and muggy days here in Minnesota, typical July. I sure am glad to have air conditioning and a big fan too.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again.

A Pretty Paper Card

Hello!

This Love Those Pretty Papers Challenge is a new one for me. What a good excuse to use some of my hoard er stash. I have a huge amount of lovely papers but never use them. Why? Not sure, but maybe because I use dies so much.

So here is my card, pretty paper and a die.

Isn't this pretty paper? It is from an oldie DSP set by Stampin' Up! called Inked Botanicals. The main color is Crushed Curry, a color that is still available.

My card base and the attached die cut are done with Very Vanilla cardstock. The card is an A2 side folding one.

The flower die is an older one (2013 again) from Elizabeth Craft Designs called Daisy. I used liquid glue to glue the flower onto the DSP, as that paper is really the star of this card. The flower die gives a bit of texture to the card.

I've left off a sentiment for now but the card will probably turn into a birthday card when I need one.

Our days and days in the 90 degree F temps here are coming to an end tomorrow. Yay. Heard they are coming back this weekend, though, big sigh.

Hope you are all well, staying cool and dry or warm where you are. Horrible news of the flooding. Take care. I care.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again. Hugs!

Caroling Snowmen

 

Greetings!

I really wanted to use this pretty new to me set from Spellbinders but it was difficult to make my card CAS for Loll's CAS Christmas July 2026 challenge. I just had to stop and not add anything more. What do you think? 

This set is called The Snow Notes. Isn't it adorable? I had the SU Night of Navy card base on my desk ready to use. Scraps of white were used to cut the snow bank but the three carolers were cut from one quarter of a new sheet. More leftovers! Yay!

It was tricky trying to figure out where to put the snowmen's noses and to glue down them. More scraps in pink, pale purple, tan and blue were used for the scarves and hands. I have a whole drawer + of pieces ready to use. I bet you do too! 

The trees were cut from an oldie (2013) die set from Poppy Stamps called Fremont Pine Landscape. To finish, I used the included die saying Falalalalala in red and put inside with a few more white trees.

Hope you like my card, I do. It was fun to make and good to have another Christmas card done.

Update: I needed to fix the nose for the snowman on the right on the original card. Too bad it is so weirdly crooked on this challenge.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again.

A Happy Mail Card

 

Hi There!

This time I am using a new die and embossing folder set from Concord & 9th called Happy Mail to make this card. I am adding the card to NBUS Challenge #88.

So much fun to make! I used SU Mint Macaron (looks too green here) and Basic White cardstock to make this. The tab and little hearts were cut from the silver lining taken from the opening of a new jar of peanut butter. Know what I'm talking about? Not sure why my picture makes them look gold.

Anyway, after cutting the mailbox shape from 4-1/2 x 5-1/4 cardstock I embossed it. Inside on the white piece I die cut and glued the phrase Happy Mail that came in the set. 

I will probably send the card which BTW, opens from the top down to my friend in CA. She appreciates my card making efforts as she doesn't do it any longer. 

The smoke from all the fires in Northern Minnesota and Canada is mostly gone now here. So sad that the East US is getting it. Take care my friends. I care about you.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again.

M is My Favorite Letter

 

Hi Fellow Crafters!

The back story is that two of my favorite granddaughters have names that start with "M" and one of them who is away at grad school will get this card. The card was made for the June Edition Woodblock Wednesday.

My wood stamp with the floral M on it is from Recollections by Michaels. It is quite old and I have a J also, my initial of course. I used Ranger Distress Oxide Picked Raspberry to ink up the stamp then cut it out with an really old SU floral punch.

Next I cut out a nice Night of Navy circle with another SU punch and mounted my pretty M.

The card base is Night of Navy topped with a white piece of c.s. embossed with an oldie but goodie Sizzix/SU embossing folder called Petal Burst. 

Fluffy white clouds in the sky today and nice temps in the 70's.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again.🌺

I Love Butterflies: June 2026 CCC

 Hello!

I chose the Sketch Option this month for the Card Chain Challenge. My card is off to Texas this month and I hope Patricia likes it. *

I do love butterflies and when I had a garden I enjoyed seeing them visit the flowers looking for nectar, I suppose. Monarchs do have a particular flower they prefer, the Milkweed. I bet you knew that.

My card was made to look like a Monarch using new to me retired dies from Memory Box. I hunted the dies down after receiving a card with them from Darnell. The butterflies are called Vivienne and Darla. I see that I should have moved the antenna down and added three dots of bling. 

The background in white cardstock is embossed with another newbie to me, the Spellbinders 3D embossing folder called Molded Frame. I tweaked on it to make it the size I wanted. 

Stampin' Up! Pumpkin Pie orange and Basic Black cardstock were used to make the butterfly and the black for my card base. A small hello from Newton's Nook finished up my card front.

 There is a white piece of c.s. inside where I wrote a note.

* Patricia has received this card.

Sketch Option:

Opps, I posted this too early. Sorry CCC monitors. I hate to delete the whole post. 

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again. I sure appreciate comments. Thanks!

Christmas Birdie

 .

 Greetings,

After searching through my hoard stash of bird stamps, dies and stencils sets, I found this one from Concord & 9th that I have never played with before. My card will join the CAS Christmas Challenge: June that is newly returned to action by Loll. 

The SU Grey A2 base card was on my desk waiting to be used. I chose the biggest birdie stencil in the above stencil pack as I thought he was so cute. I used a soft roller brush to color him with Hero Hues Unicorn Pigment Ink. The beak, eye, wing, and feet were stamped with Memento black ink. I tweaked on the wing to highlight it.

The challenge asks for CAS Christmas cards and luckily Concord & 9th has this nice Merry Christmas and present stamps in the newer Joyful Wreath stamp and dies set that I used to complete the card. I  stamped them in SU Real Red. I thought that gives a festive touch to the card. 

Because both sets are having their first outing, I am adding this to NBUS #87.

 

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again. I love having visitors 

A Sleepy Kitty

 

Hello Fellow Crafters!

I made up this CAS card for the current Addicted to CAS challenge where they are asking for a critter. This kitty stamp from The Stamp Crafter a new to me company. The wooden stamp is called Sleeping Cat and I got it on eBay recently. Hey, despite good intentions, I still am adding to my collections of stamps. :-) Please ignore the date on this photo. Camera issues.

My card base is SU Basic Black with the matting in Basic Grey. The kitten was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black on a rectangle of white card stock and I used a Arteza pen in red to color the bow. I have a nice set of the Arteza pens, bought on-line fairly recently. They are really juicy and new to me. So I am adding this card with all the new thing to NBUS #87.

I added the z's by hand with a black marker and the card was done. I was afraid I'd mess up if I tried to draw a mat under the kitty, so didn't add that.

I love cats and of course, dogs are my heart as you probably know. I have no pets now, but my family does so I get to see many.

Cloudy but hot these days here in MN. I prefer it to be cooler, but Minnesota is my home state, so summers here are familiar.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again.

May 2026 CCC: Keep Calm

 

Hi Stampers!

I was late getting into the challenge this month - Gail kept reminding me :-). So sending a card over seas was my only option. But, I've been sick with a nasty cold for over a week now so took license with the rules and used a card made before with a little tweaking to help fit the options this month. It's a card made for a stamper, don't you know. Ignore the date on this photo. My old camera's dates don't go above 2025.

So I took advantage of the Product/Technique option to use twine or thread and added this bow that matches the crown on the card. My focal stamp rectangle on white c.s. was made with a wood stamp from Hampton Art that I have had for ages; no idea how old. I found several similar stamps on-line and just one with this exact crown. I colored the crown with a gold gel pen.

SU Old Olive is my card base and a lighter shade of green paper is embossed with the Spellbinders Plaid folder. The bow was made with SU jute trim in a sort of matching color. Three green bling finishes the card up.

As I write this, it is a lovely Spring day here in MN, with temps in the low 60's F. All the trees have their leaves out and the grass is green. Makes me happy to look at it all. Hope to get outside this weekend.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again.

Flowers in Spring

 Almost Spring Greetings!

Here is the card that is on the way to New Jersey for April CCC. The photo was taken recently despite the date tag on it! The picture makes the word Spring look terribly crooked, they are but not as bad as my photo. To tell you the truth it is the best I could do with the die cut letters and picture taking ability. Not my best work but showing anyway. The letters are from PTI done from white cardstock.

It was fun making the card with my SU Extraordinay Flora Washi Tape. Pretty easy to put down after some practice. The base card is SU too but I am not sure which light purple color. Inside I fussy cut out one of the flowers from the tape and glued it in the corner.

Also nside I stamped a lovely sentiment from SU Easter Friends set  saying " sending warm and happy wishes this spring." That retired set is available several places online.

The spring weather here has been the usual for us in Minnesota - warm one day and cold the next. Rain expected for the next several days which will green up things. Today I saw millions of dandilions. Yuck. All the trees are showing off new leaves and some people have tulips.

Take good care and Happy Crafting and Happy Spring. 🌷

Theme Options: Long Ears / Spring / Friendship

Product / Technique Options: Bookpaper / Fancy Edges (ripped, die cut, embossed etc)

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again.

A Moose For You

 

Hello Crafty People:

I made this card for my youngest grown daughter. She calls me each day on the way home from work and the greeting is "Moooose". Not sure when we started this silliness but it is fun and this moose die is perfect for her thank you card. She does so much for me! I stamped and embossed a thank you stamp inside in red to match his hat.

This fun critter die is from Cottage Cutz called Moose-mas Moose. Not a holiday card this time, but we just got out of winter here when we both live.

Mr. Moose was die cut from all SU scraps found in my UFO drawer. Tricky to piece togther but I did it! The sentiment from a big piece, not sure what the color name is. 

The card base is my usual PTI white. I wish I had embossed the white before gluing my focal points. Oh well.

My sentiment was cut with a fun die set but I didn't label where I got it or who made it. Sorry. It's a great font. If you know anything about this die, please let me know.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again. Thanks too for commenting. 

CCC March 2026

 Happy Almost Spring!

Ignore the camera date on the card. First I set the current date wrong AND then used year 2025 as my old camera doesn't go up further. Senior moments attacking too, teehee.

This flower is from retired Stampin Up set called Prized Peony. I lobbed off the leaves as they didn't stamp well.  I colored the peony with a new to me ink from Wendy Vecchi called Pink Peony then fussy cut out the flower.

My base card and the die cut leaves are from Stampin Up retired Gumball Green cardstock. The flower die is from SU's set called Poppy Moments, not sure where leaf die is from. So many retired things, sorry. But it feels good to use what I have, right?

I glued the flower on an embossed sheet of PTI white using an older SU folder called Fern. The greeting is a goodie from Stamplorations. The label shape is from a Simon Says Stamp set, I think.

Belatedly I realize I used the April CCC colors for this March card. Sigh. More old person moments, right? But I am one. 

Edited to correct a few things.

Theme Options: Gnomes / House or Home / Friendship

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again.

Friendly Smiles

 Cyber Greetings!

I made this card for the February 2026 Card Chain Challenge.  I chose the Colour Palette Option, the Theme option of friendship, and the sketch option too. The colored cardstock is all SU matching the colors shown below as best I could. The lime looks yellow in my photo. Sorry. I like using colored carstock, do you use it?

The Smile die came from Susan R. in a box of goodies I bought from her. Once again I didn't use backing for the die cuts so used my finger and glue to paste them. Sigh. Will I ever learn.

I found the sentiment in a fairly new stamp set by SU called Perfectly Pears. Inside on a piece of white I stamped Life is Better With Friends Like You from a new to me cling set called Flowers of Friendship. These sets are available several places online. 

Colour Palette Option                          Sketch Option

                    

Inside I stamped another friendship statment saying Life Is Better With Friends Like You from SU's Flowers of Friendship stamp set. I like using these red rubber stamps, although I do know that SU is not making them any longer. Boo hoo.

As I write this we are getting ready for another blast of winter including some snow. The snow was minimal and at posting this today it is cold and sunny. OK by me either way. 

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again.

I Love Wooden Stamps

 

Hi There!

I made this card for Woodblock Wednesday February Edition on February 26, 2024 after looking through my hoard drawer of wooden stamps. Please ignore the date stamp on the picture. My old camera doesn't have year dates beyond 2025. Anyway, here is my card:

Ignore my awful photagraphy too. I took oodles of pictures but this is the only one half decent.

My oldie but goodie wooden stamp is labled Hampton Art Signature Collection 5/8/2012. Two shades of green from Stampin Up are holding my focal point. The lighter one is embosed with Spellbinders Plaid folder. I used a gold gel pen to outline the crown and VersaFine onyx black for the words. I made and disgarded several attemps to get the crown and words done nicely. 

I added three gems from SU in a light green, but they don't show well in my photo. Tap on it to enlarge may help to see them.

Inside I stamped a fun saying from Altenew's Keep Calm & Make Cards set. It says:

                                      I made this card just for you 

                                       Because you are priceless.

                                       Even if you don't like it, act like you do.

Isn't that a hoot? I should have taken a picture. The set is available a few places online. I will most likely send the card to a fellow stamper.

Time to get to bed. Yawning. I often craft at night. Do you?

Nice spring-like weather today and tomorrow, but a cold streak coming in on Saturday. I am so ready to see flowers and trees budding. 

Take good care and thank you for visiting and I hope you will come visit again.

A Couple of Valentines

 Hi Again,

I forgot to take pictures of a couple more cards made for Valentine's Day and they have gone out in the mail. These two are left over for next year. 

For this one I was playing with my hoards of glitter after watching a video on line on how to get it to stick without flaking off. Sorry, not sure where I saw it. Anyway, it worked! 

I cut out the hearts using SU retired heart dies and remembering the rule of three. The background is Pale Plum cardstock embossed with a old Darice folder that I'll never get rid of. Isn't it wonderful? Finished with a card base of PTI white that is my go to favorite cardstock. Inside I stamped Happy Valentine's Day with a stamp from the old Taylord Expression If Hearts Could Talk set. 

Am happy with this card as I so love blue and hues of purple. 

I found this lovely embossed heart on blue in my "to use" folder and got to work figuring out how to play with it. I've no idea where I got it. Can you see I embellished it with a single faux diamond on the bow?

I took a circle die make the aperture for the card focal point. Next, loving the pale blue, I made the card base from SU Not Quite Navy c.s. and stamped the greeting in the same color. Inside is a die cut using an older die from Penny Black saying Be My Valentine. Fun gluing that down.

Right? I should have taken a picture. 

I do like using things I have tucked away and almost forgot. I do have engough supplies to last my life time and more. LOL

Still lovely and warm as I write this post. The snow is almost all gone. We'll get more. 

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again. My thanks for all the comments lately. Love 'em.

A Fancy Heart

 Hello There!

Here is my card for The Paper Players Color Challenge: PP772. I haven't sent a card to them for ages, but I really like these colors.

I had a card base of Mossy Meadow in my "to-do" bin ready to go. I needed to make four valentines. So made this card. Not sure which person is going to get it, but it will get in the local mail tomorrow.

Do you have a stash of card bases all ready to use? I find it handy to do that.

So the floral heart was stamped in SU Blush Blossom which is sorta close to Petal Pink. The heart is from an oldie set called Heart Happiness and I fussy cut it out. The other two little pieces are from the same set. Calypso Coral was used on the triangle flower and Baja Breeze on the little leaf to complete the requested colors. All were glued on the card base. Actually, before gluing, I embossed the card front with an ancient folder from Darice. Don't you love that embossing folder? I sure do.

On a strip of a white cardstock I stamped in black Happy Valentine's Day from an unknown stamp set. 

To finish the inside I put HUGS using an Hero Arts wooden stamp and was done.

Spring-like weather today here and for the next week. However, we still need to finish February and March is one of our snowiest winter months.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again.

First CCC Card in 2026

 New Year Greetings!

My card has gone to Linda in MI and I hope she likes it. I did follow almost exactly the sketch option shown below except I chose some of the colors because I had the card base on my deak.

I embossed the card base, which is a SU color though I am not sure which one, with my old faithful Subtle embossing folder.

Here is my card: 

My simple sentiment HELLO is from my older (2013) Gina K Vertical Greeting stamp set. It was stamped with Hero Hues white pigment ink.

The elements are all doubled up for a little dimension.

Inside I stamped with Night of Navy ink the phrase Life is Better With Friends Like You from my newer Flowers of Friendship stamp set.

See the Sketch Option that I used?

We are still having January thaw days as I write this, with temps in the 30's and 40's which is really odd for this time of the year. I wonder when that will change. Edited to say it got really cold again but will be warming up a bit though with wind chill below zero. Thawing out a bit more next week with snow. Yay.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again. ❅⛄