*Build Your Stash Instagram Hop*

 I was playing catch up this past week, trying to get on top of my design team duties.  On my days off I had one great day of creating and then a couple of days of sitting at my desk with no motivation.  So instead of multiple cards for the Build Your Stash Instagram Hop, I only have one.  Our theme this month is "sympathy"

Card Info

*Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Granny Apple Green, Basic Black

*Stamps:  MFT Something for Everything

*Ink:  Versafine Cclair Nocturne

*Dies:  Stampin' Up! Fern & Flora

*Tools:  Perfect Layers

*This or That Instagram Hop*

 This week for the This or That Instagram Hop, we had to choose between "young" and "old"....  I'm not honestly sure which I chose for this fun card...

Card Info

*Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! shimmer paper

*Paper:  MFT Black & White Stripes
*Stamps:  MFT Sassy Pants Birthday Greetings 2

*Ink:  Versafine Clair Nocturne

*Dies:  MFT Impact Alpha

*Time Out Challenges #319*

 It's time for a new Pick 2 Challenge at Time Out Challenges....  I can't wait to see what you all choose to play with!

I went overboard and chose FOUR instead of two...  CAS, Floral, Stitching and Birthday!

Card Info

*Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Basic Black, Poppy Parade, Summer Sun

*Stamps:  MFT Something for Everythign
*Ink:  Versafine Clair Nocturne

*Dies:  Spellbinders Floral Spray; unknown stitched squares; Love From Lizi Stitched Nesting Rectangles

*Embellishments:  Pinkfresh Studio Iridescent Clear Drops

*Tools:  Perfect Layers

*Challenges:  Time Out #319

*Card Clubhouse Instagram Hop*

 We are playing with a fun idea for the Card Clubhouse Instagram Hop... it's a back to school/teacher theme with a twist.  For this Hop, we are playing with something card making that we think we could teach a class in.  Since I didn't need a card for a teacher, I appreciated the clarification of the theme.

I decided that I had two things to teach others... first, a clean and simple card and second, the art of using the extras in your stash!  Everything in this card was made using my bin of extras!

*Mini Slimline Instagram Hop*

 Hello friends...  it's time for the monthly Mini Slimline Instagram Hop!  No rules, no theme... just sharing a mini slimline card each month!

My card started out being for a different hop...  The one layer hop had a shimmer and shine theme so I started playing, completely forgetting about the idea of a one layer card.  As soon as I noticed my error, I put this card aside to make something else. 

Card Info

*Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Basic Black

*Paper:  Stampin' Up! Modern Christmas

*Stamps:  MFT Essential Sentiments
*Ink:  Versafine Clair Nocturne

*Dies:  Stampin' Up! Playful Alpha; Lawn Fawn Everyday Sentiment Banners

*This or That Instagram Hop*

 This week for the This or That Instagram Hop, we had to choose between clean and simple or mixed media.  Honestly, I don't even know where to start with a mixed media card so I went with a clean and simple design.

I'm sure that no one is surprised.

Card Info
*Cardstock:  Stampin Up! Basic Black

*Stamps:  Waffle Flower Sweet Lattice Sentiments

*Ink:  Versafine Clair Nocturne

*Washi:  Pinkfresh Studio Vines & Roses

*Dies:  Stampin' Up! Nesting Ovals; Pinkfresh Studio Vines & Roses; Waffle Flower Sweet Lattice Sentiments

*Embossing:  Stampin' Up! Soft Waves
*Tools:  Perfect Layers

*Challenges:  All About Challenge #7

*It's MY Birthday Instagram Hop*

 I am one of those people who loves their birthday...  getting older is a part of life.  I don't love that I'm closer to 60 than I am to 50, but I'm happy to be alive to celebrate another birthday.  I took the day off work, have spent some time reading and crafting... got my free breakfast at Denny's and am looking forward to dinner and cake with my family this evening.  Let's be honest, the best part of my birthday is the cake! LOL!

Anyway, I am hosting a birthday hop on Instagram this afternoon... I hope you'll go have a look at all of the cards my online friends made to celebrate my birthday!

I used some of my favourite things for this card today... some pretty flowers, black and white stripes, all items from my bin of extras and a clean and simple card!  LOL I should have made it a mini slimline too! LOL

Card Info

*Paper:  Stampin' Up! Pattern Party; MFT Black & White Stripes
*Stamps:  The Ton Easy Expressions
*Ink:  Versafine Clair Nocturne

*Washi:  Pinkfresh Studio Rainbow Daisies

*Dies:  The Ton Easy Exprssions; Pinkfresh Studio Rainbow Daisies

*CAS on Friday #339*

 Happy Friday, my friends!  So hard to believe we're nearing the end of July already!  It feels like summer just started but I can already tell that the sun is spending less time with us!  

It's time for a new challenge at CAS on Friday.  For challenge #339, we are playing with FLOWERS.  I decided to incorporate this challenge with my final card for the Christmas in July Linky Party so my flower is a pointsettia.  I am SO thrilled with how this clean and simple card turned out.  I added just a little sparkle with some glitter paper that I think made all the difference...

Card Info

*Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Cherry Cobbler, Evening Evergreen; unknown gold glitter

*Stamps:  Concord & 9th Winter Greenery

*Ink:  Versafine Clair Nocturne

*Dies:  Spellbinders Christmas Blooms

*Etc:  gold cord; gold flat backed gem

*Challenges:  CAS on Friday #339; BYSHCardmakers Christmas in July; Addicted to Stamps & More

   

*This or That Instagram Hop*

 This week for the This or That Instagram Hop, we got to choose between ice skates or roller skates.  Since I've been busy making some Christmas cards this week, I chose ice skates.  I have this cute set of stamps that has giraffes on skates.  I got to pull out my Copics for a little simple colouring again too!

Card Info

*Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Basic Black

*Stamps:  MFT Giraffes on Ice; Penguin Palace Magical Christmas Sentiments

*Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black; Versafine Clair Nocturne; Copics

*Etc:  Stampin' Up! Wonderful Snowflakes

*Challenges:  BYSHCardmakers Christmas in July

*Time Out Challenges #318*

 I took a little break from the Christmas cards to make my design team card for the new challenge at Time Out Challenges...

As soon as I saw this challenge prompt, I knew I wanted to play with some gorgeous paper in my stash and some fabulous new leaf dies I just got.  I cut a panel of the paper and then cut it in to three equal pieces.  I put the middle piece on the card using foam adhesive and then put the other two directly on the card front with regular adhesive.  I added some die cut leaves and a simple pop of colour with the sentiment.

Card Info

*Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Berry Burst, Mossy Meadow, Old Olive

*Paper;  Stampin' Up! Moonlit Florals
*Stamps:  Gina K Wreath Builder

*Ink:  Versafine Clair Nocturne

*Dies:  Stampin' Up! Fern & Flora; Waffle Flower Nesting Circles
*Etc:  foam adhesives

*Challenges:  Time Out #318

*Rainbow Connection Instagram Hop*

 I am combing the Rainbow Connection Instagram Hop with a card for the BYSHCardmakers Linky Party today...  What's better that some rainbow snowflakes?!  I cut the snowflakes out of pattern paper and am in love with how they turned out.

Card Info

*Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Granny Apple Green

*Paper:  Paper Rose Studio Rainbow Twirl 2.0

*Stamps:  Lawn Fawn Simply Winter Sentiments

*Ink:  Verafine Clair Nocturne

*Dies:  Impression Obsession Small Snowflakes, Snowflakes

*Tools:  Perfect Layers

*Challenges:  BYSHCardmakers Christmas in July

*Card Clubhouse Instagram Hop*

We're playing with anything to do with letters home this week for the Card Clubhouse Instagram Hop... so I chose to play with a postage die and a stencil I haven't opened before.  I used only 3 colours but layered them up to create a rainbow of colours!  In the past when I've used this die, I've cut the pieces apart... this time I decided to use it as a full panel.

Card Info

*Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Basic Black

*Dies:  Stampin' Up! Celebrate You; Waffle Flower Postage Collage
*Stencil:  Waffle Flower Collage Colouring Stencil

*Ink:  Tim Holtz Picked Raspberry, Salty Ocean, Mustard See

*Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers Christmas in July Holiday Linky Party*

 I'm back with another Christmas card to share with you today... have you been playing along with the Christmas in July Holiday Linky Party??!!  There are so many fabulous prizes to be won!

For today, it's all pattern paper and a little gold cord...

Card Info

*Paper:  Stampin' Up! Modern Christmas

*Challenges:  BYSHCardmakers Christmas in July

*Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #691*

 This is a fun new sketch at Atlantic Hearts that starts today...

I struggled quite a bit with getting the sizes of the the rectangles "just right" so I cheated a bit by using a full panel of pattern paper and dividing it with strips of red cardstock.  I kinda like how this one turned out...

Card Info

*Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Cherry Cobbler

*Paper:  Stampin' Up! Tidings of Christmas

*Stamps:  Taylored Expressions Simple Strips

*Ink:  Versafine Clair Nocturne

*Dies:  Taylored Expressions Simple Strips, Simple Strips Backer; MFT Stitched Rectangles; Pinkfresh Slim Strips

*Tools:  Perfect Layers

*Challenges:  BYSHCardmakers Christmas in July ; Atlantic Hearts Sketch #691

*Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers Christmas in July Linky Party*

 I'm sharing another card for the Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers Christmas in July Linky Party... I have had a blast making a bunch of Christmas cards in the last few days!

Today I pulled out some pretty paper...

Card Info

*Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Handsome Hunter; gold foil

*Paper:  Stampin' Up! Modern Christmas

*Stamps:  The Ton Easy Expressions Christmas

*Ink:  Versafine Clair Nocture

*Dies:  unknown star; The Ton Easy Expressions Christmas

*Tools:  Perfect Layers

*Challenge:  BYSHCardmakers Christmas in July

*Create It 3-Way Instagram Hop

 This month for the Create It 3-Way Instagram Hop, our theme is "thinking of you"... each of us plays with at least one common item from our stash to create three cards following the theme.  I chose to play with the same stamp set, the same die set and the same pattern paper...

Here are the up close photos of each of the cards I created... going from clean and simple to less clean and simple...

First, the clean and simple version...

This second one has an fully embossed background which takes away from it being truly clean and simple (although there are many who would still classify it as clean and simple.

And finally, a mini slimline that isn't at all clean and simple...

Card Info

*Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Basic Black

*Paper:  Stampin Up! Full of Life

*Stamps:  MFT Something for Everything

*Ink:  Versafine Clair Nocturne

*Dies:  Pinkfresh Studio Floral Squares; MFT Something for Everything

*Embossing:  Stampin' Up! Soft Waves

*Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers Christmas in July Linky Party*

 WOW!  That title is a mouthful!  But it's worth every word because today marks the start of the fabulous Christmas in July Holiday Linky Party!  Yup, that's right!  One full week of lots of holiday card inspiration.  And for every card you upload, you have a chance to win one of the wonderful draw prizes from one our fabulous sponsors!!!

It was fun to focus on Christmas cards for a few weeks to prepare for this party... I hope you'll have fun digging in to your Christmas stash too!

Card Info

*Cardstock:  Stampin' Up Handsome Hunter

*Paper:  Stampin' Up! Modern Christmas; unknown gold sparkle

*Stamps:  The Ton Easy Expressions Holiday
*Ink:  Verasfine Clair Nocturne

*Dies:  The Ton Easy Expressions Holiday

*Embossing:  Sizzix Christmas Tree Pattern

*Challenges:  Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers Christmas in July

*AAA Colourful #30*

 There's a wonderful new colourboard challenge at AAA Colourful that starts today... what a beautiful photo Jane chose for us to be inspired by...

These colours are not ones I use very often...  but wow they look good together!

Card Info

*Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Boho Blue, Midnight Muse, Night of Navy, Golden Glow, Cajun Craze

*Stamps:  The Ton Easy Expressions

*Ink:  Versafine Clair Nocturne

*Dies:  Paper Rose Studio Little Etched Butterflies;  The Ton Easy Expressions
*Tools:  Perfect Layers

*Challenges:  AAA Colours #30

*Addicted to CAS #312*

The challenge at Addicted to CAS this week is UP!  How will you interpret the code word?

I chose to do a rainbow with some clouds... I cut the rainbow pieces out of white cardstock and added some colour to them with my Copics.  I adhered them to a panel and then cut it with a stitched rectangle die so that there is only half of a rainbow.  I added some die cut clouds to cover the edges of the rainbow

Card Info

*Stamps:  Studio Katia Birthday Greetings
*Ink:  Versafine Clair Nocturne; Copics

*DIes:  Stampin' Up! Sunshine Vibes; MFT Stiched Rectangles, Treetop

*Challenges:  ATCAS #312

*CAS on Friday Challenge #338*

There's a fabulous new challenge at CAS on Friday that starts today... and it's totally up my alley!  The challenge is to use dies only with the only stamping allowed on our sentiment.  I think most of my cards are like this!

I cut some flowers in bright colours as well as a fun stem and layered it all together in the middle of my card front.   I layered the stamped and die cut sentiment across the middle of it, keeping everything together in a tight design

Card Info

*Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Basic Black, Granny Apple Green, Daffodil Delight, Poppy Parade

*Stamps:  The Ton Easy Expressions
*Ink:  Versafine Clair Nocturne

*Dies:  Prism Studio Essential Greenery; Spellbinders Be Bold Blooms; The Ton Easy Expressions
*Tools:  Perfect Layers

*Challenges:  CAS on Friday #338; Simply Clean and Simple