Flurries Forecasted Challenge

 Today I am joining the last bi-weekly challenge for the year
at Art Impressions and the theme is Flurries Forecasted!

I am showing my second round of one of  these super cute
 Snowmen gift card holders (the Santa gift card holders will

 be on my blog in a couple of days)
It also takes the Envelope GCH set to complete.  I made lots of these
to give to my grands for Christmas (20 grands and 11 greats),
I didn't put gift cards in but money,

it holds that just as well.

Aren't they just the cutest?  Nothing says snow flurries like a cute

snowman.  We had more then flurries here during the Thanksgiving
weekend, we had two feet of snow!!

Christmas Wrappings

Hello friends, today we have a super fun theme for our challenge at
DOUBLE D and it is
CHRISTMAS WRAPPINGS.
It includes all the items mentioned below and we have a
festive mood board for inspiration too! 

(Christmas bows, ribbons, tags, packages,
xmas designer paper counts as xmas wrapping paper
just have fun with it)

I am almost embarrassed to admit this but I purchased this fun 
Wrapped In Love die/stamp set during their 2023 release
and this is the first time I have used it.
There are lots of stamps and dies to this set and it came together pretty easily.
I had die cut all the pieces then went to bed and made this card the next day,
but several of the pieces had disappeared overnight, where did they go, does that happen to you?
So I just used what was still there  Crazy isn't it?
This will be a fun set to use with the holiday paper scraps too!
Edited to add:  This is a The Greetery stamp and die set!

Come over to Double D and join our Christmas Wrappings challenge, 
we would love to have you!

Entering the following challenges:
Die Cut Diva's .... Christmas/Winter
Simon Says Wednesday .... Dies

Happiest of Birthdays

 Well, here we are at the last Triple B challenge for the year
and we have this almost all black and white elegant inspiration board for you.
Our challenges are the THREE B's, meaning you can make anything in any colors
as long as  you use butterflies, blooms or birds, one, two or all three.

I used a new to me Memory Box die I purchased in 2024 for the first time
called Blue River Butterfly, I even like the name let alone the pretty die.
I had the embossed inked panel in my 'spare parts' box and die cut a Tutti Designs oval
from it for my butterfly to 'land' on.  The sentiment is from Close To My Heart that
I stamped in Versamark then heat embossed with SNS black EB powder.
I love the bold look of the embossing and need to do that step more!

I wish you could see this in person as it is such more intense and beautiful!

Come on over and join in our last TB challenge for the year!

Stencil Fun December Challenge

Hello friends, at Stencil Fun we have an OPTIONAL
theme of Winter Related.  Of course this is optional as
mentioned and you can create anything as long as you
have used a stencil!!

I used a Waffle Flower postage college snowman stencil .
This is a 2 part stencil making it very easy to create with!
I also stamped in bits and pieces of the postage stamps
and added some snowy dots by using a white gel pen and a
Stardust glitter gel pen. It shines a bit more IRL!

For my Anything Goes card, I once again have a card I created
for my 2024 Christmas cards using the Taylored Expressions
layered Holly Holiday stencil.
This stencil allows you to create three different card front panels
all at once with each layer (there are 4).
These are geared to make a mini slimline but I trimmed them down to
fit an A2 card front as I didn't want to have to make lots of mini
slimline envelopes!  I used four different colors of Altenew inks
Firefly, Green Field, Crimson and Velvet.

We hope you will get your stencils out and join us for some stenciling FUN!!

Entering the following challenges:

Just Add Ink ....Stencils (both cards)

Aud Sentiments #332 .... (non) Traditional Christmas and/or Winter + Sentiment (both cards)
Cupcake Inspirations ...Let It Snow (snowman card)

Hand Stamped Sentiments .... Tile Inspiration (both cards~ The bird and the snowman)

Simon Wednesday .... ATG

Ghostly Witch

Hello friends, yes it is December but at
Two Old Bats we challenge you to pull out those Halloween supplies
and have some  'off-season' Halloween fun with us!
As always, we have a fun mood board for inspiration but
you can create anything as long as it is Halloween themed!

I try to always let the mood board inspire me and this time it was no exception.
I fell for the cute little ghost and pumpkins in the bottom right corner.
Last year (2024) I purchased this cute Witchy Ghost die from one of the
Cottage Cutz sales, die cut her in entirely white card stock and colored her in
with  alcohol markers. She is a tiny little thing!  She is mounted on a scrap piece

from my Halloween scrap bag of papers that was die cut with an Elizabeth ATC die.
The base paper underneath is Crafters Companion Vintage Halloween.

Hope to see you over at Two Old Bats,
go ahead, take a break from Christmas and come on over
and have some 'spooky' fun with us!

Colorful Options December 2025

Well here we are at our Colorful Options challenge for December, but we might have another
challenge surprise coming up later.
Our colors as shown on our super cool inspiration board are
red~green~brown~white along with our rainbow colors if that is the way you choose to go.

For my card I pulled out a new and never been used before
Cottage Cutz die Ginger Pocket Peeker that I purchased at one of their spectacular sales they have.
I die cut all my pieces on a white card stock scrap then colored
each piece in with Copics.  Once it was all put together I die cut a 
Cottage Cutz Stitched Eyelet Rectangle then ran it
thru my TH Sizzix Snowfall embossing folder.
The background paper 'P13 Santa's Workshop' was die cut
with a Waffle Flower Lacy Layered die.
My 'ginger' is pretty dark, I might have 'over baked' him, teehee!!

Come over to Colorful Options and have some
'colorful' fun with us!

Entering the following challenges:
Send A Smile 4 Kids .... Holiday Card For Kids

December 2025 Winter

 Yikes, we are into our first month of winter at The Four Seasons
and have to admit my least favorite season of all, the older I get the
harder the long, dreary cold days are harder to take!
But winter it is and we have a wintery cold inspiration board for you
but you could always warm up with a hot beverage as shown in the
bottom right picture, OR you can create anything as long as it is
winter themed!!

As you have I am sure seen me post about it in the past, I hit a big Sizzix
sale at the beginning of the year and this die  Sizzix Forest Shadows die is from
that sale.  It reminded me of the upper right picture.  I added a bit of water to some
glue, then with a brush spattered it on the front of the card and trees,
then sprinkled the entire card with SNS Crystal Ice glitter. 
Once dry I sprayed with a light mist of hair spray to keep the glitter intact.
A The Ton Easy Expressions Holiday sentiment was added to finish.

We would love to see YOUR wintery creations at The Four Seasons!

Entering the following challenges:
Make My Monday .... Christmas Trees
Simon Monday Challenge .... Dies
The Paper Players .... Tic-Tac-Toe (Dies~Trees~Sparkle)

Under The Gum Leaves

 Hello friends, I am back today with my last 
The Neglected Stuff card for 2025.
Hard to believe yet another year has come to an end.

We are an anything goes challenge where you can use 
all that poor neglected stuff you have in you stash
and just for whatever reason never got around to using.

I pulled out a very old and VERY neglected Kaiser Crafts (2019)
Under The Gum Leaves ephemera and paper set.
When this came I had put together a small bin of papers, card stocks
and other things that went well with the set thinking I
would use it up and make lots of cards with it.
It has been sitting here ever since, pretty pathetic!

Other then the background paper and the die cut oval came from
this set.  The ephemera is all Australian die cuts and has some
really pretty pieces in it.  My goal is to use it all up, I have 14 card bases
so far ready to go, a good winter project I think!

The animal featured on this card is a Platypus native to Australia.
I'm not from Australia but Michigan, I think when I bought this the colors
and the cute animals appealed to me.

Come on over to The Neglected Stuff challenge blog
and have some fun with us using all YOUR neglected stuff!

Thank You

 We are back at Can You Handle The Pressure with another
OPTIONAL challenge theme is and it is THANKS.
Our challenge requires you to use an embossing folder,
wet embossing is permitted but you MUST use an EB folder too.

I used a pretty Spellbinders Falling Leaves folder embossed on a 
cream card stock.  I saw the design for this card on Pinterest HERE,
and it was a good find as the blog it is on is a technique blog of sorts,
one that I will be visiting again and again, you should check it out.

I totally used scraps for the rest of my card and die cutting several different
scalloped Tutti Designs squares.  A SU punch was used for the center
and topped with a Tutti Designs scalloped circle.  The Thank You sentiment
is an oldie from My Daily Bread.  I tied a piece of
waxed cotton cord and topped it with one of my homemade flowers.

We would love to see your embossed cards over at
Can You Handle The Pressure!!

Autumn Greetings

 Hello friends, at Double D we have a new theme and it is FALL COLORS
with a fall-ish colorful mood board for inspiration!

I used an adorably cute fall Graphic 45 rub-on (Autumn Greetings) for my card,
I think it is just the sweetest!!  The sentiment is also a rub-on.
If you haven't seen their rub-ons check them out as they are wonderful quality!
The background paper is from an 8x8 piece that has been sitting around in my
paper stash forever, die cut with a Spellbinders die. 
I added a few gold half pearls
for a bit of shine.

The design team at Double D has some gorgeous fall creations,
make sure to check them out!!

Gingerbread Bakery

 Hello friends, as Christmas is fast approaching we have another
challenge starting today at Peace On Earth giving you another
chance to get those Christmas cards done!

We also have an inspiration  board but you can create anything as long as it is Christmas!

I used some cute gingerbread papers from Echo Park Have A Holly Jolly Christmas.
I also die cut a few  IO gingers to add to the front.
I layered the gingerbread bakery 'sign' on a piece of red card stock.
That's it, another easy peasy holiday card!

Come and join us at Peace On Earth, we would love to see you there!

TOB November 2025 Reminder

 Hello Friends,
It's time for our 'reminder' of our year round challenge at
Two Old Bats
and and we have s spooky fun mood board for inspiration!

I'm still using my Carta Bella 12x12 journal cards for my reminder
making an easy peasy Halloween card.
It was adhered to a Sizzix black card base I purchased from one
of their warehouse sales!
Not much more to tell about this card!!

Come on over to Two Old Bats and have some 
'out of season' spooky Halloween fun with us!

Beautiful Blossoms November 2025

Hello friends, here we are again with a new monthly challenge
at Beautiful Blossoms and a pretty bouquet of flowers for inspiration. 

If you have visited me the last few months you have probably seen me mention
that I purchased some 'sketchy' Floral stamps back in February.  Well, this is
the last set of them from Paper Rose Sketchy Floral 'Hello'
I stamped the image in Could 9 ink and then colored it with a mix of
Olo (my favorite), Copics and Altenew alcohol markers.  The sentiment is
part of the mentioned set above.  The background paper is
Honey Bee Gingham Galore Fall.  To finish I added a few gems for bling.

We would love to see your pretty florals over at Beautiful Blossoms!

Thanks

 At The Sisterhood of Crafters our theme is THANKS.
Being November I decided to create a somewhat 'fall' thank you card.
I used Carta Bella Hello Autumn paper pad.  A scalloped rectangle was
pulled from my 'spare parts' bin, it is a Cottage Cutz scalloped rectangle.
I die cut a Poppystamps Sylvan Sprig and a Cheapo Dies Butterfly.
The sentiment  is Sizzix Hello Sunshine
 stamped with Versamark then embossed with
SNS Coffee embossing powder.

As I was creating this I was 'thinking' do people even send out 
thank you cards anymore?'  I am from the old school I guess as
I expect one but can't tell you how many graduations, weddings and even a baby
shower that a thank you was never received.  I even went to a couples
baby shower that you were asked not to even wrap the gifts as the
couple didn't want to spend the time having to open them. 
I like our old school ways better, guess I was brought up with manners!

Anyhow, hope to see YOU over at our The Sisterhood of Crafters
challenge, come and see what my 'sistahs' have been up to!!

Entering the following challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday .... Thanks

Warm Cup of Tea

 At Can You Handle The Pressure challenge our
OPTIONAL theme is Food and/or Drinks.
Our challenge requires you to use an embossing folder
which I am sure many of you have plenty of.

I picked up this fun Sizzix Silverware embossing folder during one of
their sales.  I embossed it on a silver metallic paper giving it a real
silver shine.  I added a vellum Spellbinders Scalloped oval with a
Cheapo Dies tea pot die cut from a rosy metallic paper.
The sentiment is from SU's Tea Together stamp set,
given to me by a friend.

We would love to see YOUR embossing folders at our challenge too!!

Holidays/Winter 2025

 We are into our first week of November and at
Simply Clean & Simple we have an OPTIONAL theme of
Holiday/Winter
but we are an anything goes as long as you keep it
CLEAN & SIMPLE!

I cut into my last piece of SU Bashful Blue card stock
and topped it with a never been used before snow doily die
I have had for a long time by Wild Rose Studio.
I accidently stamped my card with Versamark
(I meant to use Memento Black)
and thought what is wrong with my black ink LOL.
So, I went with it and used a beautiful SNS Cerulean embossing powder.
It was a good mistake!
The sentiment is Stampendous.

Come and join us at Simply Clean & Simple with your CAS card!

Thankful

 Hello friends, a new monthly challenge begins today at Word Power
where your sentiment takes center stage!
I was able to hit a few sales for some dies at Simon Says for 99cents
and this fun thankful die was one of them, a Simon Thankful cover Plate.
It cuts all the letters out so you can piece them back in or do as I did
and just place on your card stock.  I added a Maple Vine Frame from Tutti Designs
that was already cut out and in my die cut stash to use up.  I think IRL
you can make out the colorful leaves better then you can by this photo.
I think I need to try another one with the letters paper pieced back in.

Get out those BIG sentiments as this is the perfect
place to use them, at Word Power!!

Thinking Of You

 Hello Double D friends, it is once again time for a new challenge
and a new challenge theme at Double D
and it is FALL WREATH.

We have a pretty mood board of wreaths for inspiration!

I started with a die cut Waffle Flower Lacy die background using a paper
from DCWV Harvest House, a 6x6 pad I am trying to use up.
The wreath is Tutti Designs Leafy wreath that I inked with various Altenew inks.
The bow sentiment is The Greetery Put A Bow On It stamp and die.

We would love to see your pretty fall wreaths at Double D!

Stencil Fun November Challenge

It's time once again for our challenge at  Stencil Fun
and we have an  OPTIONAL theme of
Use Some Gold
this is optional and you can use any stencil any color.
I did stencil in gold on my card using an older (2014)
Memory Box stencil Large Snowflakes.
I stenciled with a limited edition Lisa Horton Cloud 9 solid gold ink.
Christmas of 2024 I received a beautiful store bought card with the pretty snowflake
I am using on my card, I just recycled it off the card I received.
I try to repurpose all the store bought Christmas cards we
receive and normally use them to make Christmas tags,
but this one was perfect for the front of my card.

This card is MUCH more beautiful IRL, the light is picking up
some un-natural colors in my photo that aren't there, it is all a gorgeous solid gold!

For my Anything Goes card, I once again have a card I created
for my 2024 Christmas cards using the Taylored Expressions
layered Holly Holiday stencil.
This stencil allows you to create three different card front panels
all at once with each layer (there are 4).
These are geared to make a mini slimline but I trimmed them down to
fit an A2 card front as I didn't want to have to make lots of mini
slimline envelopes!  I used four different colors of Altenew inks
Firefly, Green Field, Crimson and Velvet.

I'll be showing the last card from this set in December.
Make sure to come and join Darlene and I at Stencil Fun!

Basket Of Flowers

 Hello friends, here we are into November already and time for another
The Neglected Stuff challenge.

I have so many neglected things that it's always hard to decide what to use 
next!  Do you find that at times you buy something, use it maybe once and
then you are off to something else?  Or maybe buy it, set it aside and then
forget all about it, but 'just' had to have it?
I seem to do that a lot and am trying to stop myself from doing that anymore.

My neglected stuff is a Layered Basket stamp and die from Sunny Studios.
I think I did use this set 'once' a long long time ago. 
The inks used are all Altenew Coffee Break series
Espresso, Mocha, Rocky Shore, and Sand Dunes.
The flowers are some I
purchased and put together back in January.  I have a drawer full of these
Katy Sue 3D designs just waiting to be made into cards.

I placed the basket of flowers on a Spellbinders Venice Lace die cut.
It's been a long while since I have used this too as I normally use the
SB Hemstitch oval more .

Side view of the 3D flowers

Can't wait to see your neglected stuff too.

November 2025

Hello friends, today begins our monthly challenge at Triple B
where we are all about the three Bs, Birds~Butterflies~Blooms.
we always have a pretty mood board for inspiration , but you can use any colors
as long as one, two or all three of the B's are used.

I was inspired by the browns and the orange colors and used a stamp set that
was one of two I won from a challenge several years ago.  It is Woodware
Cone Flower and the first time it has seen ink.

I colored it with a mix of Copics and Olos.  I added a small butterfly from my
spare parts box and a few gold half pearls.  The sentiment is from
Pink fresh Studios.

Thanks for stopping by and happy creating!!

November 2025

 Hello friends, we are back into our 'groove of making
Halloween cards year round at
Two Old Bats!
We have a spooky fun mood board for you
giving you LOTS of fun inspiration!

I don't think I even have to tell you what inspired me
as it's pretty plain to see!
As soon as I saw the witchy woodsy scene I remembered I had
a die that would work well for my card, Memory Box
Medium Forest Archway (2015).  I also had a Lavinia Willow The Witch
stamp that fir perfectly inside.  I used a set of Altenew Gentleman's Gray inks
to blend on some white card stock.. Before adhering the die cut
I stenciled a full moon in the background.  A few Prickley Pear die cut
bats were added.

Come on over to Two Old Bats and join in with us!

Wishing You A Merry Christmas

 Hello friends, it is getting closer and closer to Christmas
and at Peace On Earth we are ready for it!

We have a fun inspiration board if you are inclined to be
inspired by it, but you can create anything Christmas themed!

Those fun ornaments in the bottom left corner inspired me knowing I had this 
great Cottage Cutz Deer and Birch Tree ornament die.  We actually tried to give this
same die away at one of our other challenges but it went unclaimed...sad!
But I used my die for this card and die cut three of them and a The Ton sentiment.
The paper once again came from a  favorite designer P13 Cozy Winter.

Were you inspired by our inspiration board?  
We hope so and would love to see your results at
our Peace On Earth challenge.

Colorful Options November 2025

 Hello friends, time for our monthly challenge again at
Colorful Options and we are into the REDS!
Your other 'option' is to use rainbow colors.

So many cute things in this mood board to inspire let alone the color.
That red barn spook to me as we have a red barn too.
I also knew I had a Cottage Cutz die with reindeer that were in a barn
(Reindeer stable)so went with that.  My embossed background is a favorite
Paper Rose Wood Panels, I love all the texture detail on this one. 
The sentiment is The Ton Easy Expressions Holiday.
It was fun to make this fun die cut with the cute deer for the first time.

Thanks for stopping by and happy creating!!

Entering the following challenges:
Christmas Crafts All Year Round .... Run Run Rudolph
Die Cut Diva's .... Critters
Simon Says Wednesday ...ATG

Be Grateful

We are well into our Fall season at
The Four Seasons and you can create any new project as long as it is FALL.
We have a fun mood board for inspiration full of fall goodness! 

I was inspired by the bottom left pretty florals and pumpkin.
I still have several of my Graphic 45 rub ons and had placed them on some 
cream colored card stock that I had cut into dotted ovals using Tutti Designs dies.
I had a new pretty My Colors Blue Mist card stock I had purchased earlier in the year
which I embossed with a new Sizzix Winter Berries EB folder.  This folder is so
pretty when embossed that I hated covering any of it up.
I didn't do anything else to it and left it pretty simple to be an easy mailer.

Come on over to The Four Seasons and have some FALL fun with us!