Birthday Dragon for PP801

Hello friends!  I hope you were able to join our fun celebration last week for our 800th challenge at the Paper Players!  We had a great turnout and are so appreciative of everyone who chooses to join our challenges every week.  

Since it's the 5th Sunday of the month, the amazing Jaydee is hosting out Tic-Tac-Toe challenge, and she's created a fabulous board!

Paper Players

I'm also sharing my card over at Seize the Birthday, where the prompt no stamping* dies only. (*stamped and die cut sentiment is the exception).

STB #333

For my card, I went down the center column - things that fly, free and texture.  I used a super cute little dragon die to create a fun shaped children's birthday card.

I am so smitten with this wee little flying dragon! The die set is made with the option of having the body swing back and forth but I chose not to for this card.  She was die cut from three colors of green cardstock and then the gift and her glasses were cut from the same colors as the background layers.  I'm enjoying adding eyeglasses to my critters and last week's Santa.  I think it's a fun and unexpected detail.

I used the Spellbinders Make A Wish Arch Labels dies to create the shaped card and add the wonderful texture around the edges.  After putting the layers on the card base, I added the sentiment then the dragon with foam tape.  The little clouds were die cut and tucked in behind here and the last steps were to add some sparkly gems and use a shimmer pen on the dragon wings, glasses and the gift bow.  

Thanks for visiting and I hope you'll take a moment to visit the challenge blog to see what TTT choices my amazing teammates used.  The challenge will remain open until Friday September 4th at 3pm EDT.  I hope to see your card in the gallery!

Stef

• Spellbinders Dancin' Birthday Dragon dies
• SB Essential Arches and Make a Wish Arch Labels dies
• SB Smart Glasses die
• SB Jump for Joy Sentiments Stamp
• Altenew Featured Sentiments die 
• MFT Petite Clouds dies
• Simon Says Stamp Taffy Dazzling Gems
• SB Mulberry, Orchid, Fairytale, Peridot, Rainforest and Fern cardstock
• Tonic Shimmer pen

Let's Party for PP797

Hello friends!  It's the first Sunday of August and that means a new theme challenge at the Paper Players.  This time the fabulous Jan is hosting and has chosen a delightful theme.

Paper Players

I'm also sharing with Darnell's NBUS challenge as this is the first outing for the main stamp and die set I used in today's card and joining in with the Anything Goes option of the Seize the Birthday challenge.

NBUS

STB #331

The newest little in our family is our great niece, and she is a cutie patootie!  She turned two in mid-July and I had So.Much.Fun. making this card for her birthday!

I started out with Lawn Fawn's stamp and die set that came out last year for Stamptember at Simon Says Stamp.  It has all the kitties and much of the other parts, but I also grabbed two older LF stamps from my collection to add the balloons, the cute bird, the hearts and one of the sentiment bubbles.  

I decided on a color palette (other than the critters) of pink, aqua, yellow and lime green.  I used my Copic markers to color everything, then out came the white gel pen to add some polka dots and stripes on the balloons and some of the packages.

I was trying to decide what type of scene to make with all these critters and thought it would be a fun design to use one of the postage collage A2 dies to create frames for little vignettes.  I went with the A2 size, which is 3 7/8" x 5 1/8" and it was die cut 3 times and stacked for dimension. 

Distress inks were softly blended on a panel of white for the background, which was trimmed down to the same size as the frame before adhering.  Most of the images were popped up on foam squares.  Before adding to the card base, I ink blended pink around the edges. Lastly, I added Glossy Accents to the balloons, Stickles to a couple of the party hat pompoms and lots of sparkle with a shimmer pen to many of the items.  

Thanks so much for visiting!  I encourage you to take a moment and head over to the Paper Players, where my amazing teammates have some super cute cards to inspire you.  The challenge will remain open until Friday, August 7th at 3pm EDT.  I hope to see your card in the gallery!

Stef

• Lawn Fawn/SSS Purrfect Birthday stamps and dies (no longer available but LF has oodles of similarly cute sets available).
• LF Happy Birthday Deer stamps and dies
• LF Hippo Birdie to You stamps and dies
• Waffle Flower Postage Collage A2 Block die
• Kitsch Flamingo, Twisted Citron and Salvaged Patina Distress Inks
• Stardust Stickles, Tonic Shimmer pen and Ranger Glossy Accents
• Copics - BG11, 13, RV 02, 04, Y00, 11, 15, YG05, 01, T1, 2, 3, 4, YR14, 16 18, Black

Big Blooms Birthday for CH137

Hello friends!  We have a new challenge over at Color Hues starting today and the lovely Nancy is stepping in as host for Jules, who is still deep in unpacking after a move.  Jules chose a beautiful and dramatic color combination.

Color Hues

I'm also playing along with the Anything Goes portion of the current Seize the Birthday Challenge.

STB #330

For my card, I went with a stamp and stencil combination.  The stamp creates the background and outlines of the flowers and leaves.

I really love the dramatic effect of a dark background, so when I saw Jule's color choices, I knew I would be using this set.  

The first step was to stamp the image.  I used black pigment ink for the best coverage and still had to stamp it at least 3 times to achieve that.  I let it dry overnight and then used the stencils to color the flowers in three shades of red, then a gold gel pen for the top of the stamen.  

The stamped image is 5.5" square but I trimmed it down close to 4.75" square, and then mounted it on a 4.75" x 5.5" card base.  To pull in more gold, I used two skinny strips of matte gold on the top and bottom of the panel, then added the sentiment.   I tried adding some gold confetti sequins but it made it too busy for my taste, so no bling!

Thanks for taking time to visit and please take a moment to visit the challenge blog where my oh, so talented teammates and two guest designer, Joanne James and Julia Aston, have some amazing inspiration for you!  The challenge will remain open until Wednesday July 29th at 9am EDT.  I hope you'll join us!

Stef

• C&9/Kristina Werner Aubrey Blooms Background Stamp and Stencil set
• Spellbinders You Are Everything Betterpress plate and die
• SSS Strips die
• Altenew Gold gel pen
• Barn Door, Lumberjack Plaid and Aged Mahogany Distress Inks

La Dolce Vita Birthday for PP794

Hello friends!  It's time for a new challenge at the Paper Players and this week the amazing Jaydee is hosting.  This is color week and Jaydee has chosen a gorgeous combination.

Paper Players

My card uses products that have been languishing in my unused bin, so I'll be sharing this at Darnell's NBUS challenge.

NBUS

I'm also joining the Anything Goes option at Seize the Birthday and the Summer Vibe challenge at Inkspirational.

STB #330

Inkspirational #371

I had so much fun creating the first card that I ended up making two.

I started by cutting the lemons, flowers and leaves from colored cardstock that coordinated with Jaydee's challenge colors and then enhanced them with some ink blending.  

The embossed background was made using Shortbread cardstock from Concord & 9th.  It appears a lot lighter in the photos - in person it is the yummiest warm color between ivory and light yellow.  It was trimmed down and added to a black matte.

The sentiments are from a coordinating Betterpress set, which I inked up in black then used the coordinating dies to cut them out.  As someone who doesn't speak Italian, I always thought ciao was goodbye, but learned it can also mean hello.  So the greeting reads hello beautiful and I like the versatility of that.  Paired with the sub greeting above, I can use it for a birthday or many other occasions.

For the second card, I kind of when overboard with the flowers lol! 

This time I die cut everything from white cardstock then ink blended them for a slightly different look.  I used the same embossed background but added the arch panel as a landing spot for all the die cuts.  The sentiment is from the same Betterpress set and I finished this off with a few opal gems.  

Do you have a favorite?  I like them both, but I like the look of the ink blending on white for card #2 a bit better.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Be sure to take a moment to visit the challenge blog, my talented teammates have some amazing cards using these colors in a variety of ways.  The challenge will remain open until July 17th at 3pm EDT.  I hope you'll join us!

Stef

Card #1

• Spellbinders Citrus Spritz die set
• SB La Dolce Vita Betterpress plate and die
• SB Lemon Fresco embossing folder
• SB Blush, Tutu and Rainforest cardstock
• C&9 Buttercup and Shortbread cardstock

Card #2 (same die and sentiment sets, and embossing folder)

• SB Essential Arch die
• Simon Says Stamp Shell, Salmon, Coral, Guava, Watermelon, Limelicious and Pearfection inks
• SB Opal gems

Toucan Birthday for PP792

Hello friends!  I'm here with my card for the new sketch challenge at the Paper Players.  This week the fabulous Joanne is hosting and has given us a wonderful sketch.

Paper Players

I'm also joining the Anything Goes portion of the current Seize the Birthday challenge.

STB #329

I had recently attended The Weekender Goes Wild retreat and created a card with some of the products.  I did take some liberties with the sketch, but I'll explain that below.

The retreat is all about tropical animals and environments.  This is Tiki Toucan and the branch upon which she is sitting, which extends across the panel and has vines and flowers hanging from it, represents the horizontal strip in the sketch and the larger leaf and flower on the left represents the heart.  Unfortunately, I had to move the sentiment up above so it wouldn't cover up many of the flowers and vines.

I started by die cutting all the parts of Tiki, along with all the other elements, from colored cardstock.  Since I'd already used the toucan twice in the class, putting her together was easy.  I did find a Toucan reference photo on the internet and the one with a similarly colored beak had blue feet!  So, of course I had to use that. ;-)

For the background I used the Tropicana Texture embossing folder. It is sized at 5.5" x 8.5" and creates two different A2 patterns, which is so handy!  I used one half which was layered on a lighter piece of green cardstock, then all the scene elements were added, and I thought I was good.  Somehow, though, it looked unfinished to me, so I ended up layering it on a larger black panel, with the card ending up at 6.75" x 5". The black really made Tiki pop and I had a better place for the sentiment.  I love how this turned out, and I hope you don't mind how I riffed a bit on your sketch, Joanne!!

Thanks so much for visiting and I encourage you to visit the challenge blog to see how my amazing teammates used this sketch.  The challenge will remain open until Friday July 3rd at 3pm EDT.  I hope you'll join us this week!

Stef

• *Items from The Weekender Goes Wild 2026 Craft Kit.  The kit and the retreat (on video) is still available on the Spellbinders website.
• *Tiki Toucan die set
• *Jungle Blooms die set
• *Tropicana Texture embossing folder
• Spellbinders Just Add Cake sentiment set (from the Just Add Cake card kit)

Fragrant Floral Birthday for PP790

Hello friends!  I hope your summer is off to a good start. Today we have a new challenge at the Paper Players and this time the amazing Christy is hosting our monthly color challenge.  She's chosen a beautiful foursome of colors.

Paper Players

I'm also playing along with the Anything Goes option at Seize the Birthday.

 STB #328

It was not a hard choice for me to go with flowers and one of my most used floral stamp sets worked perfectly with these colors.

The image is from Altenew's Fragrant Floral Craft Your Life set, which includes a large floral and sentiment stamps, a die for the large floral and a layered stencil set.  I opted to use my Copic and Olo markers rather than the stencil to color this.

I'm afraid Gorgeous Grape got a bit short-changed in this image, but it is there on the small berries.  I'd used a stamp positioner to stamp the image and after coloring but before die cutting, I put the panel back in it and stamped with black pigment ink for a nice, crisp image.  

After die cutting I added a second die cut layer then adhered it to the postage edge panel, which was then added to the card base with foam tape.  The sentiment is from an old MFT set and was cut with a label die and popped up with thin foam squares.  The final two steps were to use a white paint pen with a fine tip to color the flower stamen and add three opal gems.

Thanks so much for visiting and it would be wonderful if you'd take a moment to hop over to the challenge blog where the rest of the design team has some fabulous cards to inspire you.  The challenge will remain open until Friday June 19th at 3pm EDT.  I hope you'll join us this week!

Stef

• Altenew Craft Your Life Project Fragrant Florals
• MFT Stylish Sentiments
• Altenew Featured Sentiments Label die
• Simon Says Stamp Postage Edge die
• Posca White 0.7mm paint pen
• SSS Opal Dazzling Gems
• Copics - RV14, 13, 11, BG49 13, 11
• OLOs - YG 1.6, 1.4, 1.2

Cupcake Birthday - Surprise Party Guest for Seize the Birthday #327

Hello friends!  I'm thrilled to say that I'm the Surprise Party Guest for the new challenge at Seize the Birthday.  My card was the winner of STB #325.

The "toppings" option for the next fortnight is "Sweet Treats". 

Seize the Birthday

 

There are plenty of creative options with this topping.  Here's what I ended up making.  Warning!  Pink alert!

It's oh, so pink and very glittery!  The cupcake dies, sentiment stamp and die, and the embossing folder are all products from Spellbinders Just Add Cake card kit.  I was inspired to use this layered design after seeing Billie's card on Instagram.  

Three shades of pink, two of aqua/teal and a dark brown cardstock were used, along with the magenta glitter cardstock, for the background layers and the cupcake elements.  The larger flowers and a couple of the leaves are from another Spellbinders die set, but the rest of the elements are from the Light the Candles dies in the kit. I really love those candles! 

The pink background panels were first cut out with rectangle dies, then embossed with the kit folder and adhered to the larger glitter cardstock layers.  Sparkly gems were added to the flower centers and then I finished things off by using an aqua glitter pen to add more sparkle to the flower petals and the candle flames.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I encourage you to take a moment to visit the challenge blog for some wonderful inspiration by the design team.  

Take care!

Stef

All products are from Spellbinders unless noted otherwise.

• Light the Candles die set
• Just Add Cake stamp and die 
• Be Bold Blooms die set
• Confetti Drop EF
• Essential Arches dies
• Concord & 9th Dragonfruit, Carnation, Ballet Slipper, and Cocoa cardstock
• C&9 Rainbow Collection Glitter Paper 
• Honey Bee Stamps Aurora Borealis gems

Meadow Flower Birthday for CH133

Hello friends!  We have a new Color Hues Challenge and this time the fabulous Tracey is hosting.  She's chosen a gorgeous color combination of Lime Green and Violet.

Color Hues

I'm also joining the lovelies at Just Us Girls, where Lisa has chosen Flowers for their Word Week Challenge and the Anything Goes option at Seize the Birthday.

JUGS

STB #326

I ended up combining mostly some old and new Simon Says Stamp products for my card.

I couldn't help but go with flowers with this color combination and decided I should use one of the older flower dies in my collection.  The dies were cut from white cardstock then inked with both SSS and Altenew inks.  

I was itching to use the new Scalloped Arches dies and thought they would create the perfect landing spot for the flowers.  The smaller die was cut from Spellbinder Fairytale cardstock and the larger with white.  The sentiment was stamped using the EZ Strips Birthday stamp and cut out with the matching die.

For the background, I liked the scalloped look that coordinated well with the arches dies.  The panel was cut from a light green cardstock then layered on the card base. With everything adhered to the card, the final step was to add some sparkle...I may have gotten a tiny bit carried away. 😁

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you'll take a moment to visit the challenge blog, where my amazing teammates have some wonderful inspiration for you.  The challenge will remain open until Friday May 29th at 3pm EDT.  Please come join us, won't you?

Stef

• Etched Meadow Flower dies
• Scalloped Arches dies
• Altenew Dotted Scales Embossing Cover die
• EZ Strips Birthday Stamp and die
• Honey Bee Stamps Aurora Borealis gems
• SSS Heather, Violet and Iris inks
• Altenew Limeade, Lime and Fresh Leaf inks

Handpicked Birthday

Hello friends!  Today I'm sharing a birthday card over at Seize the Birthday, where my dear friend, Nancy is hosting the current challenge.  She chose a "toppings" theme I couldn't resist.  Pink?  Yes, please!

STB 325

I also wanted to try out a new die set and create a fun-fold card with it.

The floral die set is from Concord & 9th, and what drew me to it is that there are dies for the florals along with dies to create a pinpoint impression for arranging without cutting into the panel, one to cut out the entire arrangement and two dies to cut either side of the florals, allowing a shaped card front as my card does or to the other direction.

I began by cutting my white card base with one of the edge dies along with the impression die.  After cutting out and adhering all the flowers, leaves and stems with various C&9 cardstocks, a panel of pink was cut at 5.5" x 4.50" and scored to create an A2 panel with a quarter inch on the right to be adhered to the back of the white card base, allowing the pink panel to swing open on the right side of the card after lifting the die cut edge. I hope that makes sense!

Before adhering the pink panel, I used my Misti to position the sentiment so it would be visible beside the florals with the left side of the card closed. After assembling the entire card, both the left and right sides swing open to the interior of the card, where I'll add a personal greeting.  I apologize for not including a photo of that.

I finished things off by adding a few tiny white flowers from another C&9 die set on the pink panel, then using sparkly gems for all the flower centers. 

Thanks for visiting, I appreciate it!  And if you have another moment, take a peek at my Paper Players DT card for our new challenge that went live earlier today.

Take care!

Stef

• C&9 Handpicked dies and Briar & Bloom dies
• Waffle Flower Sweet Birthday Sentiments Stamps

Cheers to You for Color Hues

Hello friends!  We have a new challenge for you over at Color Hues and this time I am hosting!  I've chosen one of my favorite color combinations for the challenge.

Color Hues

As a reminder, you may use any hue of the two challenge colors, so lighter, darker, whatever tone, as long as it's a yellow and a blue.  Neutrals are also welcome (black, white, gray, ivory, brown, kraft and metallics).  So sorry, but green is not a neutral lol!

I'm also sharing over at Seize the Birthday for their Anything Goes portion of the challenge.

STB #325

Okay, let's get to my card! 

For a long time I knew precisely what I was going to create for this challenge, but then...Spellbinders released their Just A Cake Birthday Card Kit and I went in a completely different direction.  Take a look!

As I am always in need of masculine birthday cards, I chose to use the Birthday Brew die set from the kit, Confetti Drop embossing folder and the Just Add Cake stamps and dies.  In addition, I used the Essential Arches and the Color Block Accent Arches, which are not part of the kit.

I love that color block look in yellow and blue!  For the beer mug itself, it was die cut from both light blue and vellum.  Between those two layers a piece of acetate was added to give the look of glass with the beer behind it.  

The watch was easy to put together, once I decided on the colors of metallics to be used.  Sandwiched between the face and band of the watch is a die cut circle of gray to make the watch hands visible.  

The background arch was cut from white, embossed with the Confetti Drop folder, then a yellow ink pad was swiped across the raised elements so they would be more visible, plus give more contrast between it and the beer "foam". I used partial die cutting to create a top-folding arched shaped card base.  The final step, after everything was assembled, was to add a few small clear dew drops for an effervescent look.  

Thanks for stopping by!  Please take a moment to visit the challenge blog for more inspiration by my incredibly talented teammates and guest designer Greta.  The challenge will remain open until Thursday, May 14th at 9:00 am EDT.  I hope you'll join us, I'd love to see your card in the gallery!

Stef

Chompster Devours It!

Hello friends!  I have a fun card to share with you today using the new Just Add Cake card kit from Spellbinders.  I was so excited to get it because I knew all of the dies would work beautifully for many of the upcoming birthdays of friends and family members.  

Of course, I had to start with the cute little monster and because he's devouring a cupcake, I'm joining the current Sweet Treats challenge at Time Out Challenges.

TOC #310

And because I created a birthday card, I'm sharing with Seize the Birthday's Anything Goes challenge.

STB #323

This card was so fun to make!

I like the combination of orange and blue because I think it's gender neutral.  I created Chompster from two shades of orange cardstock and used the darker orange for the card base and his party hat.

The monster dies are super easy to put together and I was smiling the entire time because he's so cute!  The background arch panel was embossed with the Confetti Drop folder that comes with the kit.  

The card base was created using arch dies and one of the Spellbinders Color Block Accent Arch dies.  I think that's just the coolest look and I hope in the future they come out with rectangles with the same checkerboard design.  The sentiment is from the Just Add Cake stamp and die set in the kit.  

After creating the card base doing partial die cutting with the large arch die, the layers were added.  The only thing popped up with foam tape is the sentiment.  The final touches were to add the pompom on his hat and some Sparkle Texture Paste to the cupcake frosting.  I was hoping it would have a bit more opacity, but it still looks sparkly IRL.

Thanks for taking time to stop by!  Have a great weekend!

Stef

Rustic Layering Flower for the Paper Players

Hello friends!  It's the fourth Sunday of the month and that means it's time for a new sketch challenge at the Paper Players.  The lovely Claire is hosting and has created at good one with plenty of design options.

Paper Players

I was all set to use this sketch for a Christmas card to add to my stash, and I did make a card.  In fact, I made two but as I went to create my blog post I realized I forgot a very important part of the sketch - the vertical piece under the focal image.  Oops!  But that's okay, now I have 2 more holiday cards completed!

So back to square one and I shifted to spring because I was inspired by the challenge at Seize the Birthday, where the topping is to use primarily green on your card.

STB #322

And here's what I came up with...

I chose to use the Simon Says Stamp Rustic Layering Flower and thought a pop of yellow on my otherwise green card would look nice.  I used Copic and Olo markers to color it.

For the horizontal bar, I wanted scallops but don't have any edger dies like that.  However, I remembered I had a slimline die set with a die that would work perfectly. Happy dance!  

To go along with the scallop design, I used one of the scallop layers from the SSS Layered Scallop Tags dies and die cut it from white.  I did some partial die cutting so the length could be extended and I added a green hole tab at the top.  

The scallop strip was added to the panel that had been embossed by the Spellbinders Tiny Dots folder, then mounted the tag with foam tape and adhered the flower. I found the sentiment in with the MFT Stylish Sentiments stamp set and it was already stamped and die cut with the Altenew Featured Sentiment die, which was a happy discovery.  

The last element was the twine bow.  I put a foam square underneath the green hole tab, then secured the bow onto the foam square through the hole.  

All in all, I'm pleased with how this turned out after having to pivot and make a new card lol!  

So how are you inspired to use this sketch?  For more ideas, please head over to the challenge blog to see all the fabulous cards by my wonderful teammates.  The challenge will remain open until Friday, March 27th at 3pm EDT.  I hope you'll have a chance to join us!