Just Us Girls #612 - Photo Week

 Hi friends!  I'm the hostess for this week's Just Us Girls challenge and I chose this picture for inspiration.

I know I had something in mind when I chose it back in August, but I couldn't remember for the life of me!  When I went through my Christmas stamps, I found this sentiment and thought it would be perfect.  I saw swirls on the paper bags in the photo and used a 3-D embossing folder on kraft paper to mimic it.  I lightly inked the raised parts with white pigment ink to highlight those areas.  I then inked up the border with several layering stamps and inks.  I added the border with dimensional squares and cut off the pieces hanging over the edge.  I used those pieces on the bottom of the white panel.  I added star dust stickles to the red berries for some sparkle.

You can see more from the JUGs design team and our guest, Rachel Davis, on the JUGs blog.  This is her last week with us as guest for this month.  Thanks so much for being such a great guest!

Just a reminder that we are taking the month of December off, so we will be back January 1, 2022.

We are also looking to add a design team member to the team.  See the JUGs blog post for details!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Holidays!

Recipe

Stamps:  Seasonal Borders: Winter and Favorite Things (PTI)

Paper:  Neenah white, kraft

Ink:  unicorn white; sage, spruce, rockin' red, cranberry fizz, It's a Boy, Icing on the Cake

Accessories:  Swirling Snowflakes embossing folder (SSS), star dust stickles

Just Us Girls #611 - Color Week

Hello everyone!  We have a great color challenge over at Just Us Girls.  Vicki chose aqua, brown, and cream.

 

I was lucky enough to snag this Tim Holtz/Simon Says Stamp collaboration set during Stamptember.  It sold out pretty quickly.  I thought it would be perfect for this week's colors.  I started by stamping the sleigh and the trees (several times to get a forest on the bottom) in Memento rich cocoa ink on a cream cardstock so I could use copic markers.  A moon two-step stencil came with the set.  I temporarily adhered the first solid stencil down and masked the sleigh with masking paper.  Then I was able to stencil the clouds with a cloud stencil.  Keeping the sleigh stencil in place, I replaced the solid moon stencil with the detail one and used a light blue ink with it.  Once that was finished, I removed the stencil and masking paper.  I used very light blue copics to color the sleigh, Santa, and trees then stamped the sentiment.  I added some star dust stickles to the Santa and trees.  That panel was die cut with a stitched rectangle and mounted onto an aqua panel die cut with a bigger rectangle.  I'm going to make more of these for my holiday cards this year.

You can see more from the JUGs design team and our November guest on the JUGs blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe

Stamps:  Tim Holtz/SSS stamp set

Paper:  Vintage cream, aqua, recollections white

Ink:  Memento rich cocoa, antique linen and speckled egg distress oxide, copic markers

Accessories:  Stitched rectangles (MFT), cloud stencil (MFT), masking paper, star dust stickles

Just Us Girls #610 - Trend Week

 Hi friends!  The challenge over at Just Us Girls this week is our Trend challenge.  Elizabeth chose a trend that is certainly popular around the crafting industry...MINI SLIMLINE cards.

I saw Kristina Werner watercolor this image from Art Impressions and I had to have it!  I love the way their samples are colored with all the shading and such.  Kristina used watercolors, but I used copic markers.  Once colored, I die cut it using the coordinating die and mounted it on a Lawn Fawn pattern paper along with a sentiment.  I mounted that panel on an orange mat and added crystals.  I like this size of slimline card better that the bigger size.  

You can see more from our JUGs design team and our November guest on the JUGs blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe

Stamps:  Halloween Slimline (Art Impressions)

Paper:  Recollections white, orange, Fall Fling (Lawn Fawn)

Ink:  Memento tuxedo black, copics

Accessories:  Halloween Slimline die (AI), crystals

Just Us Girls #609 - Word Week

Hi friends!  The first challenge of the month over at Just Us Girls is the Word Week challenge.  Nancy chose the word MERRY. 

I was so happy Nancy chose this word because I finally got to try out my new hot foil system.  I've been on the fence about adding a new technique with new products into my craft room, but I found it to be fun and rewarding!  I was so worried about this coming out messy, but when I took the foil off the paper, it was perfect and so pretty!  I can't wait to try more things!  After I foiled the word, I used a Pink Fresh stencil set to create the wreath around it.  I used several shades of green inks and the red for the berries.  I stamped the word Christmas in dark green and added gold crystals.  I matted this onto red cardstock and then onto a white base.  First of the Christmas cards done!

You can see more from the JUGs design team and our new November guest on the JUGs blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe

Stamps:  Written in Ribbons Holiday (The Greetery)

Paper:  Recollections white, red

Ink:  Rockin' red, sage, spruce, deck the halls (C. Pooler)

Accessories:  Holiday Botanical stencil (Pink Fresh), stitched rectangle (MFT), hot foil Merry die (SSS), gold hot foil, crystals

Celebrating The Creative Knitter!

 Hi friends!  I don't know how many of you know Stephanie Klauck.  She worked creatively for My Favorite Things for many years.  She lives in Canada near the US border and I live in the US near the Canadian border.  I got to know her when she taught classes at the stamp store here in Buffalo called Buffalo Stamps & Stuff.  Stephanie came once every month to teach classes using MFT products.  We had so much fun at those classes, and Stephanie has an infectious laugh.  We were missing those classes during the Covid and border shutdowns.  

Well it seems Stephanie wasn't idle during that time.  She picked up her knitting needles and dove head first into a new career.  She began dying her own yarn and started an online company from her home calling it The Creative Knitter.  Well now she's taken it a step further and opened a brick and mortar store in Ridgeway, Ontario.  You can read more about it on her Instagram and Facebook accounts.

So I thought I'd send a congratulatory card to her.  I found the perfect stamps for this card.  They are from The Greetery.    I stamped, colored and die cut the super cute image of this moose (hello...Canada is full of them!) and lamb knitting!  The background is a stencil in a knitted pattern that I created with blue ink.  I die cut the sentiment from red cardstock and the shaddow from white.  I matted this on a blue panel before adding it to a white card base.  I just hope this reaches her.  I have another friend in Kitchener, Ontario who I sent a card to and it was sent back as no such address.  It was her exact address, confirmed by her!  Ugh!  Fingers crossed it gets there!

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe

Stamps:  Gettin' Cozy (The Greetery)

Paper:  Recollections white, blue

Ink:  Memento tuxedo black, stormy sky, copic markers

Accessories:  Gettin' Cozy die and Knit Wits stencil (The Greetery), stitched rectangle (MFT), star dust stickles, scripted greeting die (Pink Fresh)

Just Us Girls #608 - Wild Card Week

 Hello!  Just Us Girls is hosting it's Wild Card week challenge...if there is a fifth Saturday in the month, as we have this month, we have an extra challenge.  The hostess, this week it's Bobby, gets to choose a challenge of her choosing.  Bobby chose the word leaves, and let me tell you that made me happy!

I have two cards to share this week.  I love fall and I love creating with leaves.  This first card uses a leaves wreath stencil.  It's quite large, but I cut it down to fit an A-2 size card.  I used various fall colored distress oxide inks to create the wreath.  I added gold splatter (something I don't do much of...even with a splat box I had gold splatter on my phone, my desk, etc.!).  Then I die cut the sentiment using brown, orange, and gold cardstocks.  I originally used green ink to stencil the dots on the wreath, but when I added the gold splatter I thought gold crystals would look better.  Which in my opinion they did!  I mounted this panel on a brown mat and added it to the white base.

Unfortunately, I needed a sympathy card.  I decided to use a leaves turnabout stamp for this one.  I went with green, purple, and  light and blue inks.  The sentiment was die cut with gold cardstock.  I added stardust stickles to the berries on the wreath and mounted on pattern paper.  I added strips of gold on either side of the main panel.

You can see more from the JUGs design team and our October guest, Nora Noll on the JUGs blog.  This is her last week with us and she's done a fabulous job.  Thanks for joining us Nora!

We are also saying a fond fairwell to our JUGs teammate Angie.  She has been a wonderful asset to our team and she will be sorely missed!  Best wishes to you Angie!

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe Card #1

Paper:  Recollections white, orange, brown, honey gold mirror cardstock

Ink:  Mustard seed, spiced marmalade, fired brick, ground espresso, gansai tambi starry watercolors

Accessories:  Leaves wreath stencil (SSS), thanksgiving die (SSS), gold crystals

Recipe Card #2

Stamps:  Harvest wreath TAB (C & 9th)

Paper:  Recollections white, honey gold mirror, pattern paper

Ink:  Hot tub, green tea, royal treatment, juniper mist (C. Pooler)

Accessories:  With sympathy die (Dee's Distinctively), star dust stickles

Seize the Birthday #226

 Hello everyone!  I have a birthday card to share and thought I'd link it up with the Seize the Birthday challenge blog.  It's just a birthday card...I didn't use the topping of making a sunset scene.  

I made this a while ago and forgot to post it.  I even sent it out to someone already!  I used another stencil set (it seems I can't get enough of them!) in several colors of coral and green.  After it was stenciled, the background looked bare so I stamped over it with a script background stamp.  The birthday sentiment was stamped and die cut and the Happy sentiment was stamped right on the panel.  I added crystals and shimmer to finish off the card.  This was matted onto a coral panel and then onto the white base.

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe

Stamps:  Bitty Buzzwords (Honey Bee), Script bg (Hero Arts)

Paper:  Recollections white, coral

Ink:  Versafine onyx black; clay mask, polished, sage, spruce, juniper mist

Accessories:  Hill Blossoms stencil (Altenew), stitched rectangle (MFT), crystals, shimmer

Just Us Girls #607 - Photo Week

Hello!  Cecile is hosting Photo Week over at Just Us Girls, and she has chosen the cutest photo!  I just love it!

 

I knew right away what my card would look like, and it came out just as I imagined.  I've had this fox from Whipper Snapper for a long time and had to look for it!  It's a wood mount stamp too.  I started by stamping the fox, then the banner.  It took me three tries before I got it right!  The banners are one stamp, so I had to mask each one to stamp the other.  It should have been easy, but for some reason was a pain!  After that, I used a stencil for the clouds and stars.  The fox was colored with copic markers.  I added star dust stickles to the stars and glossy accents to his nose.  

You can see more from the JUGs design team and our October guest on the JUGs blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe

Stamps:  Rizzo (Whipper Snapper), Festive Fall Bundle (Gina K)

Paper:  Recollections white, black

Ink:  Memento tuxedo black, Versafine onyx black, mandarine spice, pumice stone, copic markers

Accessories:  Festive Fall Bundle stencil (Gina K), stitched rectangle die (MFT), star dust stickles, glossy accents

Just Us Girls #606 - Color Week

 Hello friends!  I'm the hostess over at Just Us Girls this week and chose this pretty color palette.  Hope you like it as much as I did!

I'm loving these stamp, die, and stencil sets from Pink Fresh as well as other companies, are you?  I like to color, but don't love it and I'm not as proficient as I would like, so these sets give me a look I love!  I love using Distress Oxide inks, as I did here, but find they are not always vivid in color.  You can see that here.  After blending the inks through the stencil, I stamped the line image, but it didn't come out as clear as I would like in some spots.  After stamping and stenciling, I die cut the pieces and added them to the turquoise pattern paper, leaving a place for the sentiment.  I added pearls and shimmer spray to finish it off.  

You can see more from our JUGs design team and our October guest on the JUGs blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe

Stamps:  Just a Hello Floral (Pink Fresh Studio)

Paper: Recollections white, Vintage Lemon Twist (Simple Stories)

Ink:  Versafine onyx black; squeezed lemonade, fossilized amber, salvaged patina, peacock feathers, peeled paint, forrest moss

Accessories:  Stitched rectangle (MFT), Just a Hello Floral stencils and die (PFS), pearls, shimmer

Just Us Girls #604 - Word Week

Hello friends!  It's Word Week at Just Us Girls this week.  Carol chose HALLOWEEN! 

I had fun making this mini slimline card.  I had several gnomes from this stamp set already colored with copic markers.  I was hoping to use more of them, but was only able to use this little gnome witch.  I started by using a bat stencil and some molding paste for the background.  Then I started laying out the images.  I mounted this black piece onto a white mat and layered this onto a peach colored base.  I added shimmer and crystals.

You can see more from the JUGs design team and our new guest for October, Nora Noll, on the JUGs blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe

Stamps:  Halloween Gnomies (SSS)

Paper:  Recollections white, black, orange

Ink:  Memento tuxedo black, copic markers

Accessories:  Halloween Gnomies dies (SSS), layered bats stencil (SSS), master layouts 7 dies (Gina K), molding paste, Halloween sentiment strips (SSS), crystals, shimmer

Just Us Girls #603 - Photo Week

 Hello!  Just Us Girls has a new Photo challenge this week, and Ina chose this photo of beautiful basket of what I believe are lilacs.  Their scent is heavenly!

I wasn't surprised to see some purple in the photo Ina chose, because I know she loves that color!  I'm glad to use purple because I don't use it often enough.  As you can see, I chose to use the colors from the photo...two shades of purple, green and soft brown (as seen in the basket).  I used the Harvest Wreath turnabout stamp set for my card today.  After stamping the wreath, I die cut a leaf and some tall leaves to add to the center.  I stamped the sentiment, die cut it, and added it to the center as well.  I added that panel onto a kraft mat.  Crystals and shimmer spray were added for that sparkle I love so much!

You can see more from the JUGs design team and our September guest, Loll, on the JUGs blog.  This is Loll's last week with us, and I'd like to say thanks for all the beautiful cards you created for our September challenges!

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe

Stamps:  Harvest Wreath turnabout (C&9th)

Paper:  Recollections white, desert storm

Ink:  Sweet sixteen, flirty fuchsia, grass skirt, sand castle

Accessories:  Harvest Wreath dies (C&9th), stitched rectangle (MFT), crystals, shimmer spray

Just Us Girls #602 - Color Week

 Hi everyone!  The challenge over at Just Us Girls this week is a beautiful color challenge chosen by our Nancy.  Perfect for the upcoming fall season.

I recently got this cool Patchwork Pumpkins stamp and die set from Honey Bee and thought it would look great with Nancy's colors.  (The far end of the pumpkin looks pink-ish, but it's actually red!)  I started by die cutting the large red piece, the orange piece, then the yellow from white cardstock.  There is a stencil that goes with this set, and I used it to apply the red, orange and yellow inks with a blender brush to these pieces.  I then stamped the designs in the coordinating colors on each piece.  I die cut one additional piece to layer behind the orange piece and two more pieces to add behind the yellow piece for dimension.  I stamped and die cut the leaves and added green ink and stamped and die cut the stem in brown.  (Hoping to use those colors as neutrals!)  I also stamped and die cut the vine pieces and added all of them to the white base.  That base was stamped with a frame stamp in brown as was the sentiment.  I fussy cut the sentiment and added it to the pumpkin.  The card base is dark brown.  Shimmer spray and crystals were added for sparkle.

You can see more from our JUGs design team and our September guest on the JUGs blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe

Stamps:  Patchwork Pumpkins (Honey Bee), Freehand Border Large (Rubbernecker)

Paper:  Recollections white, early espresso

Ink:  Rockin' red, orange twist, tiara, spruce, icing on the cake

Accessories:  Patchwork Pumpkins dies (HB), stitched rectangle (MFT), crystals, shimmer spray

Color Hues #25

 Hi friends!  I'm getting this card in under the wire for the Color Hues challenge.  It's their first birthday celebration, and I just had to enter!

The colors are perfect for going into this next season of autumn, yellow and orange.  I've been trying to use some of the many new stamps, dies and stencils that I've purchased recently.  This one is a triple-step turnabout set from Concord & 9th.  I used yellow and two shades of orange to create this image.  I stamped it then die cut it.  I also cut it from a coral colored cardstock and layered it behind the stamped image.  The main panel was created with a T. Holtz 3-D embossing folder.  I blended some of the lighter orange ink around the edges, lightening up in the center.  I stamped and embossed the sentiment in white and added it to the panel as well as crystals.  I sprayed it with shimmer for extra sparkle.

Happy 1st birthday Color Hues!

Recipe

Stamps:  Triple-step Autumn Leaf (C&9th)

Paper:  Recollections white, coral

Ink:  Versamark, tiara, tiki torch, tutti fruitti

Accessories:  Autumn leaf die (C&9th), Intertwine 3-D folder (T. Holtz), crystals, white embossing powder, shimmer

Just Us Girls #601 - Trend Week

Hello friends!  It's Trend Week over at Just Us Girls and Elizabeth is hosting her first challenge as a design team member.  She chose for us to make a shaker card.  Love those!  They are so fun to make and shake!

 

I was at a stamp show a couple of weekends ago and bought this Hootie Owl die set with several add-on holiday sets from Jillian Vance.  The samples they had on display using these dies just hooked me!  I thought this witch owl would be cute atop a shaker.  I'm sending this to my sweet great-niece and I think she will love it!  

I started by die cutting and putting the owl together.  I wanted googly eyes instead of the circles that came with the set, but I wish they were bigger.  These were the largest I could find in my stash.  I die cut the frame four times from white card stock and once from black.  I adhered the white ones together then cut a piece of acetate and adhered that to the black piece.  I took one of the fall out pieces from the white die cut and stamped spider webs on it.  To put the card together, I first adhered the pattern paper to the card base then adhered the white frames and the middle piece on top.  I added the shaker bits inside the well of the frame and attached the black piece with the acetate to cover the shaker.  Then I added the owl and sentiment strip.  So fun to make!

You can see more from our JUGs design team and our September  guest on the JUGs blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe

Stamps:  Halloween Gnomies (SSS)

Paper:  Recollections white, black, Matilda (Cosmo Cricket), acetate

Ink:  Versafine onyx black

Accessories:  Hootie Owl and Hootie Halloween Add-on (Jillian Vance), stitched rectangle die (MFT), wood frame die (HA), sequins, Spooky Salutations strips (SSS), googly eyes

Just Us Girls #600!!!

 Hello JUGS friends!!  This week Just Us Girls is celebrating our 600th challenge!  Woohoo!  We've been in existence since October 2009, and I can say with pride that I have been here since challenge #1 (although I may have missed a challenge or two!)!  Vicki is hosting this challenge (she took over administrative duties a few years ago to keep this challenge running smoothly...thanks so much Vicki!), and she chose for us to use 6 of anything on our cards.

I was in my LSS a couple of weeks ago and picked up this stamp/die set from Say It With Stamps.  I thought those little birds were adorable!  I noticed there were six different birds in the set, so it was perfect for this challenge.  I stamped them, colored them with copics, then die cut them along with the branches (there are two in the set and I die cut one of them twice so I had a long enough branch for all the birds). I die cut a white panel and used a mini cloud stencil and ink to create the background.  I stamped the sentiment on that panel and added crystals and shimmer.  I adhered that to an aqua panel and a base that is a mini slimline size.

You can see more from our JUGs design team and our new guest for September, Loll Thompson, on the JUGs blog.  Welcome Loll!

And look what someone will win just for joining our 600th challenge!  These great products from Creative Expressions!  Good luck!

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe

Stamps:  A Little Birdie Told Me (Say It With Stamps)

Paper:  Recollections white, X-Press It card, aqua

Ink:  Memento tuxedo black, Versafine onyx black, copic markers, salvaged patina

Accessories:  A Little Birdie Told Me dies (SIWS), master layouts 7 (Gina K), crystals, shimmer, dimensionals

Just Us Girls #599 - Photo Week

Hello!  I'm the hostess over at Just Us Girls this week for our Photo Week challenge.  I thought this was a cool photo that can have many interpretations.

 

For me, I went literal.  When I chose this photo, I had this confetti stencil set from MFT in mind, and I think it came out pretty cool.  There are two stencils in this set and I stenciled two colors with each stencil.  I used navy and yellow with the first stencil and aqua and gray with the second.  I die cut the panel with a stitched die and used a larger die for the gray mat.  I die cut the hello die once from gray cardstock and twice from white and stacked them.  I also die cut the shadow from vellum.  These were adhered together and placed on the panel on an angle.  I added a sentiment strip, crystals and shimmer to finish it off.

You can see more from the JUGS design team and our August guest, Claire, on the JUGs blog.  This is Claire's last challenge with us this month, and I'd like to thank her for her beautiful additions to our challenge this month!

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe

Paper:  Recollections white, gray, vellum

Ink:  Limoncello, cumberbund, juniper mist, twilight (C. Pooler)

Accessories:  Card sized confetti stencils (MFT), hello die (MFT), stitched rectangles (MFT), sentiment strip (SSS), crystals, shimmer

Just Us Girls #598 - Color Week

Hi friends!  It's Color Week over at Just Us Girls, and Carol has chosen a summery combo of yellow, pink and green.

 

I immediately think of flowers when green is included in a color combo, and I have so many of these beautiful stamp/stencil/die sets from Pink Fresh Studio so I have to go there.  I chose this newer Happy Blooms Floral set, using various Distress Oxide inks in the challenge colors.  There are two groups of flowers in this set (I die cut them two more times from scrap cardstock to stack for dimenson).  I arranged them to look like one on this mini slimline card.  Before I adhered them on the white scalloped die cut, I blended some yellow ink on it for more color.  I stamped and die cut the sentiment, added crystals and shimmer.

You can see more from the JUGS design team and our August guest on the JUGs blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe

Stamps:  Happy Blooms Floral (Pink Fresh); Opposites Attract (Greetery)

Paper:  Recollections white, desert storm

Ink:  Versafine onyx black; squeezed lemonade, wild honey, kitsch flamingo, picked raspberry, crushed olive, peeled paint distress oxides

Accessories:  Happy Blooms Floral die (PFS), Opposites Attract (Greetery), mini slimline card die (Trinity), crystals, shimmer