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Happy Birthday!!!

Today is my sister-in-law’s birthday. We had breakfast with her and Tracy’s brother yesterday so I was able to hand deliver the card. The beautiful die cut is from Concord and 9th. I needed (wanted) a die for a Christmas stamp and some cardstock from Concord & 9th. Somehow the Layered Lotus stencils and die landed in my cart as well. I’ve yet to use the stencil, but the Layered Lotus flower is so pretty on its own. The pretty frame also came with the set. 

The inner piece of the frame was cut from C & 9th’s Powder cardstock and the larger “frame” from metallic gold. The flower was die cut from Almond cardstock and ink blended with Watermelon ink—a combination Carissa Wiley used in her introductory video. The leaves and stem were cut with Avocado cardstock and I added some ink blending with the same color ink. The center band was cut from Vintage Cream cardstock (Papertrey Ink) and backed with a narrow gold border. The sentiment is from The Greetery’s Oblong Octagon Labels. I’ve been struggling with light recently, so sadly the gold doesn’t shine in the photo.

The simple elegance of this card design makes it appropriate for so many occasions and it’s likely to be reproduced again. 

This is off to Seize the Birthday and Simply Clean & Simple where both challenges ca be Anything Goes, and to NBUS-it’s a new month over there.

Color Hues #142

Stef had given us a color combination perfect for fall–and as you’ll see on the Color Hues Blog–any number of other ocassions.

This card is definitely not the card I intended to make. I knew I wanted to use the Magnolia Wreath from The Greetery, but the intent was to make a CAS card. This is not CAS! I also wanted to use one or more of the new Greetery products laying on my desk. That didn’t happen either, but it morphed into getting the Capsule Basics out and this where it ended up.

Most of my cards are A2 or square so a %X& shaped card is unusual for me. The first wreath was die cut using a piece of watercolor paper that was laying on my desk. I colored the leaves with Fossilized Amber and Lumberjack Red Distress Oxide Inks (which looks quite a bit brighter in the photograph than it does in person) and went back with a tiny brush to color the stems with Gathered Twigs. Using the Capsule Basics Large Borders I created the border with woodgrain paper and the Pretty Picado embossing folder.I chose Dark Chocolate cardstock for the center panel. When I laid the wreath on I realized I needed a second wreath as well as a Capsule Basics Filagree Border. I cut both from Kraft cardstock, and used some Gathered Twigs ink at the bottom of the leaves. 

I arranged the wreaths and then spent more than a little time trying to decide on a sentiment. I tried a variety of banners, but ended up adding a small sentiment on a circle die cut that nestled in among the leaves. Both the amber and red wreath and the sentiment were added with dimensional adhesive dots. I could have stopped there, but ended up using the largest of the Capsule Basic dies to create the card base.

So there you have it, a much more layered and detailed card that I usually create, but I’m quite happy with it. Be sure to visit the Color Hues Blog to see where our Guest Designer, Crystal, and the Design Team have created. And then, please join us in the gallery! 

This is off to two challenges: Seize the Birthday: Use Fall Colors and the TicTacToe Challenge: down the middle: Die Cuts, Free, Embossing.

A Trio of Christmas Cards

It was my turn on the Memory Box blog this week, and I created a set of three CAS cards all featuring the Gilded Scroll Ornament. Each ornament was layered onto a different frame and all were die cut from watercolor paper. The ornament gets flattened out a bit when run through the die cutting machine, but there’s nice texture on the rest of the card.

This one used the Heritage Rectangle Frame–always a favorite of mine.

The frame on this one is the Cinched Frame.

And for the last card, I used the Fan Stitch Scalloped Arch Frame. For this particular set of cards, it is my favorite.

These are pretty quick to put together. Die cutting took the most time. The ornaments were very easy to put together.

As you can tell from this post, taking photos of my cards right now is a real challenge. The little light that we get in our old house is now much cooler, and there’s less of it. I’ve tried a lot of different products to solve these problems but none of them have proven very successful. It’s beginning to feel like another solution needs to be found.

Happy Birthday!

Today is my oldest granddaughter’s fifteenth birthday. We celebrated last night because tonight she had horseback riding lessons. On Tuesday and Wednesday nights, she’ll play in varsity field hockey games. She’s busy, happy, and doing well in school. Here she is with her youngest sister this summer when they both were playing in regional field hockey tournaments.

I purchased the dies for her card because the black hair of the Super Woman reminded me of her beautiful long, black hair. And because, of course, I do think she’s super!

The You Are Super die is from Spellbinders. The background is the Reverse Confetti, Stitched Rays which has long been a favorite of mine. It was die cut with some white shimmer cardstock from Papertrey Ink. The starts and sentiment are also part of the You Are Super dies.

I added some dots of glitter with a Gelly Roll glitter pen. The panel was added to a sheet of black glitter paper from Pinkfresh Studio.

This is off to Seize the Birthday: Add a sentiment strip, A Cut Above: Anything Goes, and the September NBUS gallery.

Color Hues #141


Welcome to a new Color Hues Challenge:

Sheri has chose a wonderful color combination, and I had a lot of fun with it. 

As you can see, the purples I chose are more toward blue than pink. I think purple may have one of the widest ranges of hues. I did experiment a bit with the purples, but I had a larger selection of inks to choose from leaning toward the blues.

Once again I went rummaging through my Pinkfresh Studio collection, and came upon another product I received for a Create and Connect event (August 2025) but never used. I wasn’t particularly inspired by the samples for this product, but I am a huge fan of it now.

Pinkfresh Studio has some of the best stencils in the industry. I chose four purple inks and one green to color this stunning Chrysanthemum Bloom image. Once the stenciling was done, I die cut it as well as die cutting the image from a sheet of fun foam for dimension. It’s been a long time since I used that technique and it worked wonderfully. 

You can see that dimension here in a closer look. The sentiment strip is from Altenew’s One Go Birthday Greetings and added with a piece of thin dimensional tape. 

Please check out the Color Hues Blog for lots of inspiration from the Design Team and our Guest Designer, Amanda.

We’ve been out of the country for the last two+ weeks. It was a fabulous trip, but I’m always ready to get back into the craftroom when I return. So many ideas. . . so little time! I’m sending this card off to three challenges: Seize the Birthday: Add a Sentiment Strip, Stencil Fun, and the September Pinkfresh Studio Challenge: Anything Goes.

Magical Fuchsias

We almost always have a hanging pot of fuchsias on our side porch during the summer. When Alex Syberia released the Magical Fuchsia suite of products I knew I wanted them in my collection. Since my birthday was coming, I put them on my wish list. I received a very generous gift certificate, but by then, the products were out of stock. They were worth the wait. 

I’ve made three cards so far—two identical ones with the 3D embossing folder and stencil combo, and one with the Betterpress/Foiling Plate. I like both versions. There’s also a die set which I haven’t gotten to yet. 

The embossing folder also has a die that will cut out the whole branch. I foiled it first, colored it with the stencils, and then ran it through the embossing folder. Spellbinders Color Block Accent Arches made a pretty frame for this card. The sentiment was gold foiled on black cardstock with Spellbinder’s Fancy Sentiment Strips.

The embossing folder also has a die that will cut out the whole branch. I foiled it first, colored it with the stencils, and then ran it through the embossing folder. Spellbinders Color Block Accent Arches made a pretty frame for this card. The sentiment was gold foiled on black cardstock with Spellbinder’s Fancy Sentiment Strips.

The embossing folder also has a die that will cut out the whole branch. I foiled it first, colored it with the stencils, and then ran it through the embossing folder. Spellbinders Color Block Accent Arches made a pretty frame for this card. The sentiment was gold foiled on black cardstock with Spellbinder’s Fancy Sentiment Strips.

Fall Dahlias

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I’m up on the Memory Box blog today with a floral card for fall. Dahlias are one of my favorite flowers, and the dahlias are the latest of the flowers to bloom here in Western New York. They don’t begin to bloom until mid-August and then bloom right through September if all goes well.

The Dahlia Stems Cling Stamp creates a 6X6 image. I used the Dahlia Stems Art Stencil to color the image, using just two inks with a light hand for the first stencil, and a heavier hand with the second stencil. Next I added some additional color to each petal with Copic markers. The leaves got a lighter emphasis at the bottom of each leaf.

The Happy Fall Stylish Script was die cut from the same cardstock, but I deepened the color with some ink blending. After adding the sentiment to the vellum shadow, I added it to the card. This sentiment lends itself to any number of occasions based on what you choose for the inside sentiment or in a personal note. 

Color Hues #140

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Nancy is our hostess for the September 1st Color Hues Challenge. When I saw her color combo, Dusty Blue and Brown, I immediately thought of The Greetery’s 3D embossing folders that I’d seen embossed with brown woodgrain cardstock, so that’s where I started.

I’d like to say it came together quickly, but I started with one embossing folder, played around with some options, and then started over with the Pretty Picado suite of products. This is the first time I’ve used the Pretty Picado Stencils, and I also pulled out the Capsule Star Studded Borders for the first time. 

Once the border was embossed I swiped a bit of white ink over it to soften the color and enhance the beautiful embossed pattern.  I used a couple of different blue inks for the stenciling. For the star border, which I love and think I will use a lot, I chose Matte Silver cardstock. The silver embossed sentiment is from the Pretty Picado Stamp set and I added some tiny silver pearls for a bit of shine on the stenciled panel. This shaped card is bigger than an A2 card, but fits nicely in an A7 envelope.

Check out the Color Hues Blog for more inspiration my wonderful Design Team and our talented Guest Designer, Michele, and join us in the gallery. 

I’ll be away when this post goes live, but will send this off to the September NBUS Blog when I get a chance. It’s always good to use a couple more new products!

A Clean & Simple Anniversary Card

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A quick post for a CAS anniversary card for the Addicted To CAS Challenge.  I’ve had Papertrey Ink’s Grand Ampersand die for years, and I don’t think I’ve ever used it. I have used some of the accompanying stamps. I came upon it recently, and knew it would make a striking anniversary card. Dressed up a little more, it would be a great wedding card, too. 

I stared with a squared 5X5 inch card base and then cut the black, red, and main panel with my paper cutter. The ampersand was die cut in gold and layered on two more die cuts for some dimension. After placing the card in my MISTI I laid the ampersand in the middle and determined where to stamp the two-part sentiment. Once the ampersand was adhered with glue, I added three gold pearls. 

Hope your week is off to a good start!

Another Punny Fish

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Earlier I made a card using Concord & 9ths Fish Friends stencils. There are also dies that will cut out the stenciled fish as well as dies that work on their own. This is a CASE of one of the cards on Concord & 9ths blog made by Carissa Wiley. 

I found a great piece of patterned paper to work as the water. It was a single sheet separated long ago from its paper pad so I have no idea where it came from. I added some ink blending to the bottom of the paper to darken the water. I trimmed the panel down just a bit so I had a narrow frame of the dark teal cardstock. I used scraps of C&9th cardstock to cut out the underwater plants and the fish, adding ink blending to all of them.

Once I had the placement figured out, I went to work on the sentiment. The one in the circle is from The Greetery’s Hey, Honeycomb Summer Sentiments and the sub sentiment is from the Something Fishy Sentiments, also by The Greetery. Finally I added quite a few Iridescent Dew Drops from Pinkfresh Studio for water bubbles.

This is my second card for the Seize the Birthday: Punny Sentiments Challenge. It’s off to NBUS as well. The is the debut of the Fish Friends dies and the Hey, Honeycomb . . . Sentiments. The Card Concept is hosting a dual challenge: Summer By The Sea and Christmas in July. I’ve entered twice with Christmas cards, but now I have Clean and Layered card for the summer challenge.

Birthday Fishes

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Two of my favorite challenges have coordinated challenges. At Just Us Girls it’s Water, and at Seize the Birthday the challenge is Punny Sentiments. Now they aren’t necessarily coordinated but I have the new Greetery Something Fishy Sentiments so I knew I could put the two together.

Initially, I had another card in mind, and if I have time, I’ll be back with another Punny Fish card. On Monday, however, I got together with two friends, and one of them let me die cut a few of the Something Fishy dies from The Greetery. I die cut them with white cardstock, and then colored them with a combination of ink blending and Copic markers. I love that the fish come with party hats included. I added some glitter to the pom-poms with a Gelly Roll Clear Star pen.

The background was stenciled with a variety of blue/aqua inks and the Simon Says Waves stencil on a panel of Concord & 9th’s Powder cardstock. Once that was done, I’ll out my Sheer Shimmer Sparkle spray and lightly sprayed the background. I like the sublte shimmer and the “water” spots. Tiny black pearls from Amuse were perfect for the fishes’ eyes. The fish were added to the card with thin dimensional tape

The sentiment was stamped with aqua ink on a piece of Powder cardstock and stacked with two additional sentiment dies. Finally the panel was added to a white card base. In addition to JUGS and Seize the Birthday, this is another card for the August NBUS gallery.

Warm Wishes

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Yesterday I was on the Memory Box blog with one of my favorite images from the Christmas Charm release, the Heirloom Candle Holder. I knew right away, it would make an elegant Christmas card. 

All the pieces were die cut from Bristol cardstock and ink blended before assembling. I used some metallic gold watercolor to splatter a piece of cream cord stock. While that dried I cut one of the Nested Globes from an A2 panel of black paper to create a frame for the candle.

Before adding the candle to the card, I die cut a piece of holly from the Evergreen Holly Bundle and some berries from the Pine and Berries Sprigs to tuck behind the candle. The Warm Wishes Gold Foil Greeting Tab finished the card. 

Another card for the Christmas stash which is not growing as fast as it should be! And another card for NBUS–a first for the Heritage Candle, but surely not the last.

Color Hues #139

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Marcia is the mid-month hostess for the new Color Hues Challenge. She picked a fabulous summer combination for us.

My first impulse was to find a Pinkfresh Studio floral to play with, but when I went looking I discovered the Citrus Twist stamp, stencil, and die that was part of the Create and Connect event in February 2024. It was one of the projects I never got to, and it’s just perfect for a Yellow and Orange challenge.

I gold embossed the stamp and die cut it before stenciling which worked out great. I used just two ink colors but added a darker center for the oranges with a new 1/4” blending brush from Pinkfresh. I won a gift card awhile ago, and just recently put in an order. They have redesigned the smaller brushes with the same kind of bristles the 1” brushes have. Those large brushes are my very favorite ones, and I used them for the overall stenciling. The smaller one work wonderfully, too.

The background cover plate is the Scalloped Grid by Pinkfresh. I used dimensional tape to add it to the card base after seeing thatbdone during the August Greetery release. I love how it looks. After adding the main image to the background, I die cut a few tiny flowers from Spellbinder’s Lemon Zest die set in yellow and orange. I added the centers with a Black Glaze Pen. 

The sentiment is just perfect for a summery card, and can be used for several occasions. It was hot foiled with the Spellbinders Curved Everyday Sentiments and die cut with the accompanying dies. This card makes me happy!

Please check out the Color Hues Blog for lots of inspiration from the Design Team and our Guest Designer, Priscilla.

This is off to two challenges: The Neglected Stuff Challenge, monthly Pinkfresh Studio Challenge and since this die set is both neglected and it’s being used for the first time, it’s off to NBUS as well.

Pretty Picado on Repeat

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I don’t get tired of making these Pretty Picado birthday and anniversary cards. Just changing up the color scheme creates a whole different look. There were several pink and orange cared during The Greetery release in May, and I thought they were particularly festive. 


Die cutting takes care of all the elements of this card except for the stamped sentiments. The larger sentiment was stamped and then die cut with a coordinating die. The only trick to putting together this version of the card was being sure the white die cut layer matched the orange embossed layer perfectly. It took two tries. 


All the products work together seamlessly: Capsule Basics, Pretty PIicado die, Pretty Picado Embossing Folder, and the Pretty Picado Sentiments.

I’m sending this off to A Cut Above and Seize the Birthday—both to their Anything Goes category.


We’ve been busy the last two weeks. After the week in Rochester with my daughter and her family, we all came to Lake Diane in Michigan for a week. We haven’t had the best weather, but we’ve rented a large cottage with a variety of table games (ping pong, pool, etc) in the basement. I’m not terribly interested (or very good) at any of that, but I’ve finished two good books. Despite some rain every day (and some heavy downpours), no day was a total wash-out, so we were able to take a boat out, swim, and do some tubing every daylight. We head home tomorrow. 

Holiday Robin

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I pulled out the Memory Box Holiday Robin for my post on the Memory Box blog today. I thought this charming fellow with his Santa hat and scarf would look great perched on the Pine Berry Branch from last year’s Christmas release. 

After die cutting, I ink blended all the individual pieces, and assembled the robin, and then did the same with the pine and berry branch. Then I die cut a Round Eyelet Circle Frame and a slightly smaller Basic Circle die from white cardstock and layered them on a Cherry Red card base. I placed Mr. Robin on one of the berry branches with dimensional tape. I snipped the evergreens from a second branch and tucked them behind the robin.


 Next, I added some berries from the Pine and Berries Sprigs (from this year’s release), die cut from Cherry Red cardstock with a coat of Nuvo Crystal Glaze for some dimension. A Gold Foiled Black Tab from the Holiday Wishes set finished the card. 

This is my second helping, as my friend Michele would say, to The Card Concept Challenge: Christmas in July (extending into August). And it’s another Clean and Layered Card.