Inkspirational Challenge #264~Word Prompt - BARK...BARK! Translation: I Love You (A Lot!)

Hello,

Welcome to Inkspirational Challenge #264, where BARK is our Word Prompt for the next two weeks. Plenty of directions to explore with this prompt and we know you'll dazzle us with your creativity!

Of course, I *had* to go dog-version with my card, creating a dog-speak background (all products Lawn Fawn) for my star of the show, Lily, my mini schnauzer! She speaks BARK incredibly well! 

Check out my fabulous team's takes on BARK, then join us in the gallery with yours.

Marina (taking a break), Pia, Marlena, Lindsey 

Thank you for dropping by!

Just Us Girls #630~WILD CARD Week...Tri-Fold Sunshine and Rainbows (Concord & 9th)

Hello,

Welcome to Just Us Girls Challenge #630, where our lovely hostess, Lisa K., invites us to make a tri-fold card as this week's *wild* inspiration! Hard to believe we're this close to May...and 1/3 through 2022! 

My talented team, as well as our fabulous April guest designer, Mac Mable, have created some AWE-mazing tri-fold/z-fold cards! Truly, works of art.

Mine is not one of them!! 

As this is my first tri-fold, I sought out the inspiration from card-making, crafting pro, Jennifer McGuire. One of her cards used Concord & 9th products I have and that was it: I totally cased her. Totally! 

I'll try this technique again at some point and aim to be far more inventive! For now, I'm happy with the way this initial attempt worked out. If I can tri- or z- fold, so can YOU!

See you in the gallery!

Thank you for dropping by!

Just Us Girls Challenge #629~PHOTO INSPIRATION Week...Choose to Shine and Smile

Hello,

Welcome to Just Us Girls Challenge #629, hosted by our lovely Cécile, who has selected this delightful painted rocks photo as this week's inspiration. Cheery colors, encouraging words, pretty patterns...so many possibilities. 

Mac Mable, our April guest designer, and the team have been wonderfully creative with their takes on the image. Please check them out, leave them some love, then play along with us. 

Pretty obvious which rocks caught my eye! Both makes are little note cards that my sister-in-law can tuck into my niece and nephew's lunches. Bits of fun to brighten up their day! The smile and circle dies are from My Creative Time; the sun, jazzy glasses, clouds and sentiment are from Paper Smooches (we need them to come back!!). 

Looking forward to seeing how you *ROCK* this challenge! 

Thank you for dropping by!

Color Hues Challenge #39~Purple and Green...It's An Add-to-Cart Kind of Day (Becky Roberts/Shopping Cart)

Hello,

Welcome to Color Hues Challenge #39, where sweet Tracey invites us to play with hues of Purple and Green for the next two weeks. Those of you who love flowers will be happy dancing that green is part of this fabulous pairing.

Yes, I am on a roll with my Becky Roberts/Spellbinders Shopping Cart die and add-ons. Indeed, this is my second version shared today! Sorry...okay, not really sorry! Love the collection and it just makes sense to use what we love, right? Right! Plus, it fits with all kinds of colour combinations....

My team has created awesome cards with this combination; please visit and, if you have time, share some love.

Looking forward to a gallery filled with purple and green delights!

This challenge will be open until April 28th @ 9AM!

The winners will be posted an hour before our next challenge goes live.

The overall winner will have the opportunity to be a 

future Guest Designer!

Thank you for dropping by!

Inkspirational Challenge #263~Technique Challenge - Watercolour... Quintet of Missees

Hello,

Welcome to Inkspirational Challenge #263, where *Watercolour* is our Technique Challenge for the next two weeks. Watercolour offers a wide variety of possibilities, so if you've used inks and water in any fashion, we look forward to seeing you in the gallery!

Watercolour: ACK! Just not my thing because I just can't get the colours right, or the blending, or...well, any aspect of it down to an art. BUT, I tried...using a quintent of Missees.  I'll grade myself an A+ for effort (I mean, who choses to watercolour faces when she doesn't have a clue how to do so! Pick me!) and a generous C for the results. I like parts of what I've done but lots of practice (or not! HA!) needed. Yes, I should have 'outlined' then with background shading or a wash of some nature, however...by the time I was done, I'd reached my limit. Besides, I didn't want to mess up any more than I already had! 

Check out my fabulous team's watercoloured delights, then join us in the gallery with yours.

Marina, Pia, Marlena, Lindsey 

PS. New Missees collection has been released and the stamps are awesome...but they require colouring of some nature (and likely fussy cutting...another stretch for me)! Oh dear! Still...I am a Missees fan! May need to up my creative game!

Thank you for dropping by!

Just Us Girls #628~COLOR Week - Red, Black and White Shopping Cart...Girls Night Out

Hello,

Welcome to Just Us Girls Challenge 628, where our lovely hostess, Sue, invites us to use red, black and white as week's colour challenge. So dramatic! 

Mac Mable joins us once again as our April guest designer. Her card is ever so lovely, as are those by my teammates. 

Brought out my Becky Roberts/Spellbinders shopping cart once again; this time, it's loaded with goodies for a Girls' Night Out. Bottles of wine, gifts, balloons, masks and snazzy stiletto shoes...I think this may be a wild event!  This cart is just way tooooo much fun! 

Looking forward to seeing how red, black and white inspire you!

Thank you for dropping by!

Perfectly CAS Challenge #26~Gold...Happy Easter Bunny and Egg (MCT)

Hello,

Welcome to Perfectly CAS Challenge #26, where we're inviting you to feature GOLD on your card. 

A little gold bunny on a floral + gold egg hopping by to wish you a Happy Easter! All products from My Creative Time. Fun and sooooo simple! 

Please be sure to pop by my teammates' blogs, leave them some love, then play along with us!

• A friendly reminder: For this challenge, we're asking you to use one-third (aka: the rule of thirds) or less on your card designs, leaving plenty of scrumptious white space (two-thirds of your panel) to draw our eyes to to your focal image. Kylie has included an easy-to-follow explanation on the challenge blog here.

Thank you for dropping by!

Just Us Girls #627~TREND Week - Use foil on alcohol ink background ...Happy Easter Foiled Egg (MCT)

Hello,

Welcome to Just Us Girls Challenge #627, where our lovely hostess, Ina, invites us to use foil on our alcohol-inked cards. Plenty of ways to approach this trend, as you'll see on the main blog. 

We delighted to have Mac Mable sharing her wonderful creativity with us this month. Her card is fabulously inspiring, as are those created by my team!

My alcohol-ink background-making skills are sorely lacking, so I did a 'cheat' version for this challenge. The beautiful papers, complete with bits of gold foil, are from P13. I paired them with gold-foiled cardstock. Simple and stress-free! LOL! All products are from My Creative Time. 

Looking forward to your takes on this trend!

Thank you for dropping by!

HLS April 2022 Anything Goes with Dies Challenge...Sending Hugs Your Way

Hello,

Welcome to Happy Little Stampers April 2022 Anything Goes with Dies Challenge. If you've used die cuts on your card/project, join us in the gallery! It's that simple!

Die cuts galore on my card, using a combination of Winnie & Walter (panel), MFT (sun), Peachy Keen (face) Your Next Stamp (sentiment) and Pink Fresh Studio (strips). That face!! So cute!!

Warmly inviting you to join us with your creative die-cuts!

Thank you for dropping by!

STAMPlorations CUTplorations Creative Cuts...Revisiting the "Eclipse" Technique

Hello,

Welcome to my fourth, and final, instalment of projects featuring STAMPlorations CUTplorations Creative Cuts. As you know, Shery has a plethora of thin, cut-like-butter dies in her shop. Words, phrases, tags/frames, images, cutting plates...possibilities galore. If you enjoying playing with dies as much as I do (and I DO!), please be sure to check them out! 

For my wrap-up showcase, I decided to re-visit the 'eclipse' technique. While I'm not doing anything particularly unique, sometimes it's good to be reminded about 'tried and true' ways of stretching our dies (especially when facing a time crunch and need something pretty, fast!) and, in this case, our paper goods, be they the awesome ones Shery carries, or other patterned papers in your stash. 

I added a bit of a twist to my first two projects: using the eclipse technique to create a card and an ATC. Twofers!!  In both cases, I cut the phrase dies from two paper goods - Coffee Backgrounds ATCs and Artsy Florals card fronts - and set them aside for the second project. Then, I selected a 'plain' cardstock - brown and white, here - and cut the phrase dies once again. After backing these with three layers of cardstock - for extra lift - into the opening they went.  The 'patterned' eclipse sentiment - also backed for dimension - went on to the mini project.

I'm babbling...how about we let the photos do the talking! 

Card 1:

Coffee Backgrounds ATC

Oh Frap! Phrase Die 

Pair this phrase with an 'I forgot your birthday', and you have a card that's guaranteed to bring a smile! 

ATC/Mini Card/Tag

ATC Tag Builder

This little mini would be fun tucked into a 'belated' or 'cheer-up' coffee-themed gift.

Card 2:

You Are My Sunshine Phrase Die

Quick Cards #5 - Artsy Florals A2 Card Fronts

Seriously, who wouldn't LOVE to receive this sentiment AND pretty florals, to boot?

ATC/Mini Card/Tag

ATC Tag Builder

Circles All Over Texture Cover Plate

Another mini...perhaps a lunch box note for the kids...so many possibilities for this little canvas.

Card 3: 

Abstract Blooms ATC Ephemera

Flutter Zen 2 Layering Dies

Sentiments on the front aren't always needed; instead, we can *zhuzh up* our backgrounds using an image as our eclipse. Here, I've chosen the Flutter Zen solid die and, though hard to see on my photo, the added layers use different colours of cardstock, similar to those on the card fronts. Not a necessity, but a great way to use up scraps and add a bit of extra 'pretty'.  Plus, butterflies and flowers just go together, right!

Hopefully, I've offered inspiration for designing small works-of-art with your 

CUTplorations dies and assorted STAMPlorations products!

Thank you for dropping by!

HLS April 2022 Stencil Challenge~Anything Goes...Just Because (The Stamp Market Plaid Stencil and Butterfly)

Hello,

Welcome to Happy Little Stampers April 2022 Stencil Challenge, where Anything Goes. 

A couple of weeks ago, I pulled out some of my products from The Stamp Market to make a yellow and pale teal card. Since they were out, I decided to do a second, with a trio of slightly more vibrant inks (which I also used in my last month's stencil card. Apparently I have a 'thing' for this combination). Sometimes, full-on self-casing is fun, especially since creating the second version was as smile-making as creating the first. Butterflies and plaid...timeless! 

Over at the main blog you'll see sensational stencil delights from my teammates. 

Hope you'll join us; looking forward to seeing which stencils from your collection you'll be sharing with us!

Thank you for dropping by!

HLS April 2022 Christmas Challenge~Anything Goes (optional twist: Glitter)...Shopping Cart Merry Christmas

Hello,

Welcome to Happy Little Stampers April 2022 Christmas Challenge, where Anything Goes is always the theme, with an optional twist which, this month, is Glitter. Sparkly, sparkly! 

I'm madly crushing over the Shopping Cart collection by Becky Roberts/Spellbinders. The cart is easy to assemble and the add-on sets are fabulous for any number of occasions, with or without the cute cart. Here, I've used a combination of dies from Holiday & Presents and Shopping Bags. The papers and ephemera (ski poles and holly) are from Simple Stories' Feeling Frosty. I like the non-tradtional colours here...

Even though the filled to the brim cart isn't exactly practical to mail in a regular envelope, it's still a ton of fun to make AND perhaps deliver in person. Whatever the case, I'm smitten!

Please check out the fabulous Christmas creations by the rest of the team, then join us in the gallery!

Thank you for dropping by!

HLS April 2022 CAS Challenge~Tropical...Hello, Sunshine

Hello,

Welcome to Happy Little Stampers April 2022 CAS Challenge, where *Tropical* is this month's theme. Blazing sun, clear blue skies, sandy beaches, rolling waves...and tasty fruity drinks sipped while enjoying the views from under a colourful umbrella. Tropical paradise...

Of course, any visit to the tropics requires sunglasses, right! The patterned paper strips and the glasses' frame are cut from P13's Sunshine collection; the sunglasses die and sentiment are from Concord &9th's Bright Eyes. Now I want leafy-framed shades...

Looking forward to where *Tropical* takes you!

Thank you for dropping by!

Inkspirational Challenge #262~Photo Challenge...Floral Hello There

Hello,

Welcome to Inkspirational Challenge #262, where we're inviting you to drawn inspiration from this oh-so-pretty floral image. These lovely, delicate blooms certainly bring thoughts of Spring....

My card is beyond simple: a pretty piece of patterned paper; diecut circle and a lovely sticker. Done! Yes, it may be viewed as a 'cheat,' but...patterned papers and assorted ephemera do deserve time on the stage, don't you agree? I knew you would *grin*

Check out my fabulous team's interpretations:

Marina, Pia, Marlena, Lindsey 

Looking forward to seeing how the photo inspires you!

Thank you for dropping by!

Just Us Girls Challenge #626~WORD Week...Happy Easter Bunny Ears and Eggs (Pigment Craft Co.)

Hello,

Welcome to Just Us Girls Challenge #626, where our lovely hostess, Elizabeth, has selected EGG as this week's word prompt. Perfect for getting a start (or a wrap up) on Easter cards.

We're delighted to have Mac Mable joining us as our April Guest Designer and what a designer extraordinaire she is! Amazing creativity, as you'll see at the main blog post. My teammates have created fabulous cards as well; if you have a moment to drop by and leave them some love, I know it will be appreciated.

My bunny ears-and-eggs cards combine products from two favourite companies; My Creative Time (eggs) which I've followed for years and the bunny ears slit, stencil and Easter from Pigment Craft Co.  I can't say enough about the quality of both company's products; awesome in every regard! I cut the Easter word six times with different colours of cardstock backed with Die Cut 'n Bond. After that, a simple matter of adding the sticker-ified letters to the background layer. Three cards done; three to finish assembling...stay tuned! 

That's all from me; your turn to 'get crackin'!

Looking forward to seeing dozens and dozens of *EGG* themed cards in the gallery!

Also sharing at:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge~Anything Goes

Thank you for dropping by!