Just Us Girls #803

It's our final challenge of the year at Just Us Girls! The team will be taking the month of December off. New challenges will begin again on Thursday January 1st. I would like to send out a big thank you to Leslie Miller for being our guest designer this past month. It's been a real treat having you with us, Leslie! 

 Okay, it's stencil week... anything goes, have fun!

My card base was stenciled with pink snowflakes... wouldn't that be a delightful sight! Next came a strip of MB plaid paper topped with some vellum scallops and a little strip of silver metallic paper. I topped it off with an arched sentiment from The Greetery. Before adhering the Merry Christmas portion of the sentiment, I stenciled on a couple more snowflakes using the same ink, just going a tad darker this time.

It's your turn now, my friends. You don't have to make a Christmas card, unless you need more like I do! Just pick a stencil and come play along!

Just Us Girls #801 ~ Sleigh Rides

 

Before getting to today's card, I would like to announce the winner of my prize for our 800th challenge at Just Us Girls! A BIG thank you to everyone who played along with us. And a BIG thank you to those that stopped by my blog! 

My random winner is  #23... MAMAWCINDY!! Congratulations, please contact me via email with your mailing information.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now for our next challenge!

What a perfect WORD Carol has chosen for this week's Just Us Girls challenge! We've already had a taste of winter with a snowy start to our week. Thankfully, it didn't stick around! I did put some of that snow on today's card though! Take a look...

I popped a snowy embossed panel (SSS) onto a gray gingham covered card base. Next came this cutie patootie Santa from Lasting Impressions. GAH... I love his polka dot beard to bits! I tucked a few BPD pine sprigs behind him and finished things off with a MB sentiment tab. Something tells me the price of sleigh rides has gone up a tad though!

How does the word WINTER inspire you? I look forward to seeing your creations in our gallery!

STAMPtember with Memory Box

I'm back today sharing the Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember 2025 collaboration with Memory Box! The Poppystamps design team was generously gifted the GOOD CHEER stamp and die set. Did you know that Memory Box is the parent company of both Poppystamps and Birchpress Design? Yep, they sure are! You can purchase this cute exclusive set today!

Isn't this the sweetest little penguin? I stamped and clear embossed her to give her that glossy penguin look! After stamping and die cutting all of the little gifts, I Copic colored them, then added a few punched dots to a couple of them. After all, we all know polka dot wrapping paper and bows are the sweetest! A few snowflakes were stamped on the diagonal. I would welcome a holiday hug from this little cutie, how about you.

Thanks for you visit today. Enjoy you weekend!

Just Us Girls #791 ~ Happiness Blooms From Within

Hey there, are you ready for a new challenge at Just Us Girls? It's an easy one... die week where it's anything goes! A new month means a new guest designer is joining us. Please pop over and say hello to Jaydee.

Once again it seemed that sunflowers were a good choice for the time of year. I just love this sweet SSS die. I added a trio of them to a couple of panels cut with PPP dies. More little banner dies for my sentiment (Carta Bella) and a trio of punched Martha Stewart butterflies to top it of.

Okey dokey, it's your turn now. Pick out a die or two and come join us!

Merry Christmas

I had a couple of Christmas cards that I had photographed but not shared last year. After seeing Claire's sketch over at The Paper Players, I remembered this one and thought it would work. Let's see what you think!

As you can see, the sketch has been flipped on it's ear! I topped a knit embossed panel with a strip of my favorite polka dot paper with a border added. Both cut with PPP border dies. The fun focal is a big sugar cookie by Birch Press Design. A couple of pine sprigs and... ta-da! 

Celebrating You

It's been a minute since I've been able to sit down and create. My dad went in for a heart valve replacement mid January, had a complication, spent a few days in the hospital, then a skilled nursing rehab facility and is now back in the hospital. My mom has vision problems and can no longer drive so we have been the official chauffeurs and caretakers. I don't mind, I wouldn't have it any other way! 

I needed some down time last night, so I got crafty. My sweet friend Michele is guesting at a new to me challenge ~ As You See It, so I jumped in with this card!

A sweet piece of patterned paper was my starting point. I popped it onto an ivory card base along with a panel cut with a SSS cover plate. An Altenew Fantasy Floral die cut was adhered to a pierced circle along with my Pinkfresh gold embossed sentiment. A trio of gold confetti bits and some knotted ribbon finished things off. I think I ticked all of the boxes for the challenge!

Thanks for stopping by, I sure do appreciate it!

Just Us Girls #757 ~ Consider Yourself Hugged

 

It's WORD WEEK at Just Us Girls and our hostess, Sue is looking for masculine cards. I went the cute-masculine route...wait is that a thing??!!

I inked up this cute little fox and gave him a manly wood frame. It looks like it's made from sticks... masculine ones! He's popped onto a background embossed with SSS polka dotted sun rays and topped off with a PTI tiny tag holding my sentiment. 

This one will go to my big brother who has a birthday coming up. He lives in another state, so I'm sending him this paper birthday hug!

It's your turn now and we look forward to seeing your masculine cards in our gallery this week!

Just Us Girls #755 ~ Final Challenge of 2024!

Hello and a Happy Thanksgiving to my US friends! We have a new challenge for you at Just Us Girls today and I'm hosting. This is our final challenge of the year. The team is taking the month of December off. We'll be back in January... 2025!

This is also the final challenge for our guest designer, Jenn Borjeson. Thanks so much for joining us this past month, Jenn, it's been a pleasure having you design with us!

Okay, it's stencil week and this is my card!

I started with the pretty Pinkfresh Winter Berry stamps, stencils and dies set. Then I just had to decide what to do with some of those sprigs! I've had this pretty little jingle bell in my stash for a long time. It came from a friend... but I can't remember who. Sorry about that, friend! It did turn out to be the perfect vehicle for those berries and a little pine to boot. I popped everything onto a sweet PTI layered tag set. One cut from gingham and one stenciled. An embossed (SSS) panel added to the layers and it was good to go!

We do hope you'll join us for our finale challenge of the year. Pick out a stencil or two and come play along!

Just Us Girls #753 ~ Joy

Hey there! It's time for a new challenge at Just Us Girls. Sue is our hostess this week and she's looking for JOY on your cards. I used a die cut from my sweet friend Marcia as a jumping off point. Take a look...

Marcia was kind enough to send me a few PTI JOY dies cuts in various colors last year. I thought it was a good fit for the Poppystamps Arched Gothic Cathedral Window... sadly retired, but ever so pretty! I tucked a cranberry version of the word into the corner of the window then proceeded to decorate with MFT images. Vellum was added to the window for softness and everything was popped onto an embossed (SSS) panel.

What does the word JOY say to you? We look forward to finding out when you add your card to our gallery!

Just Us Girls #744 ~ Hope

 

It's time for a new challenge at Just Us Girls! Sue is our hostess this week and she's looking for your take on the word HOPE. Be sure to stop by the blog to see the wonderful inspiration from my teammies and Nance, our guest designer!

I've had this Hero Arts woodblock sentiment stamp in my collection for years. Today I've framed the word HOPE using a fun flower die cut by Simply Graphic. A couple more of those whimsical blooms were added along with a sweet trio of Poppystamps butterflies. An embossed panel (SSS) for the background and a raspberry card base finished it off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I do HOPE you like it!

 I also HOPE to see your card in our gallery!

Just a Note

Hey there! I'm popping in for a quick minute tonight with a card I made for The Paper Players. Dots were involved in the current challenge... you know me, I can't pass up a good polka dot!

Actually dots or stripes are the current challenge. What the heck, I used them both! I went waaaay back to an oldie but a goodie from PTI for my dots. I used the Mat Stack 5 set to create a landing spot for my pretty little SSS sunflower. A simple sentiment by Pinkfresh and an embossed base (Lifestyle Crafts, I think) completed my CAS card.

Off she goes to the gallery. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Just Us Girls #732 ~ Happy Birthday

It's that time again, a new challenge at Just Us Girls! Carol has picked a fabulous Mood Board for us to work with. I had lots of ideas, but finally settled in on that bottom right photo and this is what I ended up with.

After cutting a small piece of golden yellow paper, I stamped PTI's Truning a New Leaf images using white ink. This was topped with a trio of Poppystamps Nordic blooms and a couple of vellum leaves. I used a pretty debossed SSS cover plate as my background. It reminded me of those little black dots from the other pink and yellow photo. Two happy birthdays by Memory Box and she was good to go.

 

It's sure to be a beautiful gallery this week!

Your card will be in there, right?

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We had a beautiful vacation in St. Croix but the journey home was a bit of a mess. Bad weather and flooding in Miami delayed (several times!) our flight to the following day. Can you believe the airport in St. Croix made an announcement that everyone had to leave, they were closing! NO heads up, just get out! Who the heck closes their airport! 8:30 at night and we had to scramble to find hotel rooms. Made it to Miami Thursday with more delays and had to spend another unexpected night there. Flew into Raleigh, NC and made our connection to DC with about 30 seconds to spare thanks to an INCREDIBLE flight attendant (thanks, Jeremy) who moved us to the front of the plane for faster exiting. Finally landed in Cleveland at 12:20am Sat. and sat on the runway for over an hour because gates weren't working and planes had to be moved. Made it home Sat. at 4am. All this after we were supposed to have a straight flight home from Miami. As the saying goes, there's no place like home!

Just Us Girls #723 ~ Just Because

Check out the fun Mood Board Vicki has for us this week at Just Us Girls!

Here's a close up for you.

I picked a few things to put on my card and I hope you can see my inspiration! The colors, flowers and waves are obvious. My trio of tags? Well, they came from the gray and striped swimsuits and the sky behind them! Do you see it? Let me just add that this wavy stencil is a booger to use ~ OY!!

Alrighty, it's your turn now. How will Vicki's Mood Board inspire you? There are so many possibilities. Maybe you can make more that one card to enter!

You Are In My Thoughts

The snow and cold showed up again for our weekend so I snuggled in and made a card or two. This one is for the Color Hues challenge. Stef picked the lovely combination of Lilac and Mint. I never met a lilac I didn't like so I was in!

Now someone correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't this look like lilacs? I used the Ready to Bloom cover die from The Stamp Market. It was smooshed into some ink then the single blooms were layered onto the panel of those that are connected on the die cut. Mint Julep cardstock from PTI was used for the leaves (TSM) and scalloped panel (ME). The lovely debossed panel is by SSS and my sentiment from Pinkfresh. 

All of those companies played so well together!

I hope you're warm and cozy this weekend. 

A pot of homemade soup is on my agenda for tomorrow!

Just Us Girls #709

 

Ready to add a little sparkle to your day? That's the word Sue has chosen for us this week at Just Us Girls.

I received this cutie little snowman by Memory Box as a free gift. I dressed him him in some sparkly attire. Don't you just love his teeny little hat! More sparkle came in the form of sky and snowflakes (PTI). My brother and I share January for our birthday month. I think I'll pop this one in the mail for him!

How does the word sparkle inspire you? 

I hope you share it with us in our gallery!

Just Us Girls #706 ~ Joyeux Noel

  

We have a festive Mood Board for this week at Just Us Girls.

Need a close up, here you go!

I was inspired by the cardinal, the colors red and teal.

My Poppystamps cardinal is nestled among berry filled branches from PTI. I added a few glitzy snowflakes as a nod to the shimmery ornaments in the photo. Funny thing how I put this card together. I glued all of those elements together THEN added them to the embossed panel! Don't ask me why, that's just the way I was rolling on that particular day!!

I can't wait to see how this pretty Mood Board inspires you. You are planning to play along, right? I sure hope so!

Merry & Birght

My entry for Color Hues has been in pieces on my desk for a few days. I kept getting interrupted with one thing or another, you know just general life stuff! I haven't had a good long crafty session in a while and those Christmas cards aren't going to make themselves! So here we go, light blue and purple.

I had a cute snippet of blue snowflake paper just perfect for my MB ornament. I attached the ornament to the pretty Snowflake Loop from Poppystamps using white thread and hid the knot with a ME bow. It looked a little lonely, so I topped it with a big snowflake! Simple white embossed trees (SSS) provided my background.

I had just enough of that snowflake paper for another ornament, so I made another card! This one has SSS embossed snowflakes dancing around in the background. 

 

Do you have a favorite? My in house critic said he likes the trees the best. Off it goes to the gallery!

Hope You're Feeling Better Soon

I took some time today to put together this card for the Color Hues challenge. I had an idea several days ago and finally got to make it happen!

I started with a trio of cute SSS sunflowers that were doubled up. They went onto an old Spellbinders Labels die cut that was embossed with a cute vine folder. The PPP sentiment went onto a smaller version of the label. Pretty vellum die cut leaves from The Stamp Market for the finishing touch!

Off this goes to the gallery. Thanks for taking a peek!

Just Us Girls #702 ~ Happy Thanksgiving

 

Hello and welcome! Here we are at another Saturday and that means a new challenge at Just Us Girls. Ina has chosen a lovely autumn photo/mood board for your inspiration this week.

As you can see, I was inspired by the leaves and the colors! I stamped layers of leaves (PRS) on a white panel then die cut it with a Spellbinders Hemstitch die. Yes, I finally got my hands on this die set! I found the perfect butterscotchy plaid paper in my stash to add another layer of prettiness. My sentiment is by SSS. I like the way this one turned out!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope I've inspired you to join us this week. 

Leaves, colors or both... it's up to you!

Just Us Girls #701 ~ Thinking of You

 

Hi friends! I'm hosting our WORD WEEK challenge at Just Us Girls and would love to have you play along. My word is PUMPKIN. It's an easy one, we all have those in our stash!

I think this SSS pumpkin die is making it's debut here today. You know how it goes, you buy a few things then forget to use something! I pulled out a fall 6x6 pad to make a fun patterned pumpkin then popped it onto a panel that was embossed with pumpkins. The banner and sentiment are oldies but goodies from RC. They're heat embossed on vellum.

Okay, now it's your turn. Pop over the the JUGs blog for more pumpkin inspiration from our guest designer, Bonnie and the team!