Sunday, June 14, 2026

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.

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

Sunday, June 7, 2026

Pool Room Birthday Card for PP789

Hello friends!  It's time for our first challenge of the month of June over at the Paper Players and it's a theme challenge.  I'm hosting this week, asking everyone to create masculine cards.  It's a great time of year, especially with Father's Day a week away. Or, in my case, I have 2 grandsons, 2 nephews, 2 brothers-in-law and my husband celebrating birthdays this summer!


For this week's card, I created a slimline style with a scene.  



The die set is a Lovely Layers set from Honey Bee Stamps called Man Cave.  It rang a bell for me because my husband and I have a pool table and I thought the entire die set was so cleverly designed.  


All the components were die cut from colored cardstock with the exception of the glasses of beer and the pool balls. The beer glasses were cut twice from vellum and then, to make two beers facing one another, I simply flipped one over and adhered the yellow cardstock piece to the back of each glass for the look of beer.  The pool balls were cut from white cardstock then colored with Copic markers.  Glossy accents was then added to the beer foam, the light fixtures and the pool balls.

The blue wall was ink blended then I used an old rag to create some texture by dabbing it in the ink then randomly dabbing onto the panel.  I created the wood floor using a plank die, doing partial die cutting on one end then flipping it around so that I could make it 8 1/2" long. I added the sentiment to the TV screen along with some holographic stars for the finishing touch.


Thanks for visiting and I encourage you to head over to the challenge blog to see all the fabulous masculine cards from the rest of the team.  The challenge will remain open until Friday June 12th at 3pm EDT.  I hope you'll come join us this week!

Stef

  • Honey Bee Stamps Lovely Layers: Man Cave
  • Simon Says Stamp Wood Plank Die
  • Spellbinders Just Add Cake Sentiment Stamp and Die
  • Trinity Stamps Oh My Stars embellishments

Monday, June 1, 2026

Kaleidoscope Floral Birthday for CH134

Hello friends!  The first of June has rolled around and it's time for a new challenge at Color Hues.  The lovely Bonnie is hosting this round and has chosen a gorgeous color duo.

This is such a soft and lovely color combination but remember that any hue of these two colors is permitted.  



I was searching through some dies and came upon this fun set that I'd bought a couple years ago (it was the Spellbinders March 2022 Large Die of the Month which I bought on sale).  It's not available anymore but I thought it would be a great design for these colors.  And I always feel better about buying new "schtuff" when I've made an effort to use the older products. I have made other cards with this but not for a team challenge.



I started with the turquoise panel, which was cut using a retired slimline rectangle die, then die cut the white flourished base twice for layering and adhered it to the panel. I inlaid all the white leaf pieces but left the large flowers open.  Next came the all the pink flowers that were layered on top.  It was time consuming but so satisfying when complete.  I chose the gold foiled Happy Birthday and finished up with a few gold pearls.  I hadn't made a slimline card in a while, so it was a fun change-up.  


Thanks so much for stopping by and I encourage you to head over to the challenge blog to see all the gorgeous creations by the other team members and our fabulous guest designer Kim Miller!  The challenge will remain open until 9 am Sunday June 14th. I hope you'll join us!

Stef

  • SB Kaleidoscope Floral Slimline Dies (March 2022) retired
  • Simon Says Stamp Slimline Nested Rectangle die (retired)
  • SB You Are Everything Betterpress Plate and Die
  • Honey Bee Stamps Metallic Mix Pearls

Sunday, May 31, 2026

Garden Party Birthday for PP778

Hello friends!  Can you believe it's the last day of May?  Phew, another month flew by!  But it also means that we have a new Tic Tac Toe challenge over at the Paper Players.  This time, the fabulous Joanne is hosting and created a really fun TTT board.


I chose to go diagonal from the bottom left to top right - happy sentiment, free and die cut.


I thought this was just such a happy card, with those fun floral dies.  The die set is called Garden Party and it is included in Spellbinders Just Add Cake Birthday Card Making Kit.  The kit actually comes with 7 die sets of which I used three on this card (listed below).

I started with four purplish shades of cardstock for the flowers and one for the leaves and stems.  I chose to use gold metallic for the flower centers and stamin to match the die cut Happy Birthday sentiment.  I used the die packaging example as the basis for my card.

For the background a medium blue ink was lightly blended on a white panel, then die cut with the scallop die and adhered to the card base.  After all the flowers were arranged and adhered, the die cut sentiment and the stamped sub-sentiment (also from the kit) were added with foam tape and I was done! With all the gold, I didn't think embellishments were necessary.


Thanks for stopping by!  I encourage you to take a moment and slip over to the challenge blog, where my amazing teammates have a fun variety of cards to inspire you!  The challenge will stay open until Friday June 5th at 3pm EDT.  I hope to see your card in the gallery!

Stef

  • SB Garden Party dies
  • SB Make It Count Sentiment dies
  • SB Just Add Cake Sentiment Stamp and Die
  • Kristina Werner Essential Dies Scallop Rectangle
  • SB Violet, Mulberry, Orchid, Fairytale, and Rainforest cardstock

Thursday, May 28, 2026

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". 


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

Sunday, May 24, 2026

With Sympathy for PP787

Hello friends!  We have a new sketch challenge over at the Paper Players and this week LeAnne is hosting.  She's created a fun one to work with.

I decided to use a die set from Honey Bee Stamps that I bought two, maybe three years ago, and never used it, so I'll be sending it over to Darnell's NBUS challenge as well.


Here's what I came up with.



When I was young, my parents planted a beautiful Dogwood tree in our front yard.  It was my mother's favorite, which was enjoyable to think about as I was making this card.  

The branch and leaves were die cut from colored cardstock and the flowers from white.  I added ink blending to all the die cuts, including the extra flower, leaves and the circle. Since the sentiment was gold foiled, the flower centers were die cut from gold as well to bring more gold into the design. 

For the background I used a rectangle die with the same design as the circle to cut a panel of white and attach it to the card base.  The lattice was also cut from white and turned out to be the perfect size for the rectangle in LeAnne's sketch.  There were a few foiled sentiments from the same set already made and the sympathy one seemed to fit best.  Fortunately, I have no immediate need for a sympathy card, but it is always good to have extra on hand.  


Thanks for stopping by and I encourage you to visit the challenge blog, where the other DT members have some wonderful cards to inspire you!  The challenge will remain open until 3pm EDT on Friday May 29th.  I hope you'll join us this week!

Stef

  • Honey Bee Stamps Lovely Layers: Dogwood dies
  • Spellbinders Woven Lattice Texture die
  • Pinkfresh Studio Folk Edge Circle and Rectangle dies
  • Spellbinders You Are Everything BetterPress plate and die

Sunday, May 17, 2026

Ravi-Best for the Paper Players

Hello friends!  It's time for a new CAS challenge at the Paper Players and this time the lovely Ann is hosting.  She is asking us to use food on our cards.  


I have a very fun card to share for this.  I think the older I become the more I like silly and playful cards.  Don't get me wrong, I will always love my florals, but I enjoy doing something totally different too. However, in the process of making this card, I did forget that this was a CAS challenge, so my card is a little borderline. ;-) 



Aren't they so fun?  I was giddy as I was die cutting all the parts from both the Pasta Friends and Ingredient Buddies die sets from Spellbinders. I ended up spending a couple hours die cutting from both sets, then worked on layouts. The raviolis are so darn cute plus I adore their little bows, the chef's hat and the fork, along with the ability to make one of them look like he was jumping up in the air!  I saw that on a cute card from Jennifer Kotas here.

The blue background was embossed with the SB Al dente 3D folder, trimmed down and added directly to the white card base. All the die cuts were arranged and adhered before adding the cute sentiment from the Stay Saucy sentiment set.  



So, what type of food will you have on your CAS card?  I look forward to seeing your card in the gallery but before you head off to your crafty spot, check out what my talented teammates have created here.  The challenge will remain open until Friday May 22nd at 3pm EDT.  I hope you'll join us this week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef