Welcome to my blog!

Thanks for visiting my blog. As the title suggests, I love to scrapbook, stamp, and sing! I will share cards and scrapbook pages I create, as well as information about my music - Barbershop harmony.

Monday, March 18, 2024

Spring/Easter cards with Embossing Folders

Happy 3rd Monday of March!! I'm playing along with Darnell (djkardkreations) and her IDEAS program to give some structure to using all those crafty supplies. This Monday focuses on E for Embossing Folders but Darnell mentioned she will add wet embossing to the E in future.


Supplies: Paper - Neenah white; Lawn Fawn Petite Rainbow Plaid;
Bazzill green; Spellbinders Betterpress Porcelain
Bright yellow from unk
Embossing Folder - Spellbinders Swirling Blooms (EOM-Feb24)
Stamps with dies - Frantic Stamper Spring Bold Sentiments
(coordinating dies HERE)
Hero Arts From the Vault Cute Animals
(Here at Frantic Stamper; coordinating dies HERE)
Dies - A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set
Betterpress w/Stencils - Cosmos Backdrop Bundle
Betterpress Ink - Bark; Inks - Altenew Bamboo; Hero Arts Moss,
Butter Bar, Creamsicle & Tangerine
Other - shimmer brown envelope; Copic Markers; 
Hero Arts Sparkle Lacquer; foam tape

While making my first cosmos cards with my Betterpress, I did a second panel on porcelain Betterpress paper, stenciled it with the coordinating stencil & cut it into two parts like I did before. I found one of the die cut panels in the bits box & used it to create this Spring card for my sister. I thought a panel using the Spellbinders February 2024 Embossing Folder of the Month would complement it. Crazy that I got to it this quickly, right? 

Next, I was looking through my stash of handmade cards and found a daffodil card from last May that I didn't really like - the daffodil coloring looked bad to me. Tried to fix it and it looked worse so I carefully peeled off the sentiment and bee for this card! The sentiment had a little flaw that I covered up with a flower from the bits box. Since my embossing folder was newly used here, I'll add my Spring card to Darnell's March NBUS Challenge.

While I was at it, I made another Avery Elle bunny card:


Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White;
Park Lane A2 card; Paper Studio pastel cardstock
Embossing Folder - Spellbinders Easter Egg Hunt  (3EOM-Feb24)
Stamps - Taylored Expressions Many Minis - Holiday (retired)
Stamps with dies - Avery Elle Easter Egg (dies HERE)
A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set
Other - Copic Markers; foam tape; American Greetings stickers

I embossed a pink panel using Spellbinders February 2024 3D Embossing Folder of the Month. I ran a darker pink over the raised bits & adhered it to an A2 card. Next, I trimmed down the grass from that cannibalized daffodil card. My first bunny was paper pieced but this one was simply colored with Copics. A sentiment label and some chick stickers completed the card. Yay - another Easter card for the stash!

That's it for today, friends - hope you have a wonderful week! Thanks for stopping by!!




Sunday, March 17, 2024

St Patrick's Day Gnome

Happy St Patrick's Day everyone! Loads of celebrations here, including the big parade in St Paul, were held yesterday instead of today. Ours too - we went to a local VFW post, dining on corned beef & cabbage - yummy!

I only sent one St Paddy's Day card - to my friend Heather (stamping and stitching) and her family over in Ireland. I was lucky enough to visit them in Ireland twice; the first time was nearly 10 years ago already!


Supplies: Paper - Neenah white;
My Favorite Things Colorful Canvas; scraps for the rest
Stamps - Hero Arts Celebrate Every Day (retired)
Dies - Spellbinders Gnome Drive Holiday & Gnome Drive Spring;
Lawn Fawn Lucky Clovers
Stencils - Taylored Expressions Set the Scene - Clouds
Other - Park Lane gem

If you missed it, I made a Valentine gnome car back in February - see it HERE. So fun to die cut and assemble the gnomes and cars! The shamrocks I used came from a new Lawn Fawn set; I didn't use the ones in the Spellbinders set. I trimmed an A2 card down to be a 4.25" square card for something different. I'll share my card at Darnell's March NBUS Challenge since my shamrocks got first play here. The St Patrick's Day elements from the Spellbinder's Spring Gnome Drive set were also newly used. I didn't play with the Easter elements from that set at all this year - oh well.

That's all for now. Have a wonderful day & thanks for visiting!!


Monday, March 11, 2024

Healing Hugs

Happy Monday - hope you had a great weekend! Today I'm joining Darnell (djkardkreations) for her IDEAS project: 2nd Monday of the month so this week D = Dies/Die Cuts. Here's my take with everything except the sentiment & gingham strip being die cut!


Supplies: Paper - Park Lane A2 card; Lawn Fawn Fruit Salad Petite;
Graphic 45 Artisan Style; various scraps
Stamps - Altenew Inky Bouquet (sentiment)
Dies - Memory Box Plumed Gypsy Butterfly;
Spellbinders Blooming Pomegranate (DOML-AUG23);
Other - Hero Arts Grape Juice & Thistle inks

Caught up on some blog commenting this morning (including on Darnell's post) & was ready to do some die cutting! I need a card for a friend who broke her leg last week. Sweet Bonnie got knocked down by someone hurrying too much at work - freak accident, really. Luckily she could have surgery right away. We saw her the next day and she looked pretty good, though in pain. She has a long stint in rehab ahead of her so I'm planning a bunch of cards to cheer her up. 

I spotted a new-to-me Memory Box butterfly set on the craft table and decided to use it. Die cut the elements, stamped the sentiment on the label, and assembled on an A2 card with a gingham strip. Easy peasy! The leafy bits were cut from a scrap of smooshed green from last week's IDEAS card. The daisy, leaves & flower centers were cut with the Poppystamps set (see a pop-up card with it HERE) using a bunch of scraps. The small cream colored flowers were leftovers from my pomegranate card. Shaded the label with some Thistle ink.

I'm adding my card to Darnell's March NBUS Challenge since my butterfly set is newly used. 

That's it for today - thanks for stopping by!!



Friday, March 8, 2024

Winter Wonderland Window with Winter Birds

Hey everyone - TGIF! I'm sharing a card for the current Christmas Kickstart Challenge #84 (first of a possible 3 max). As usual, I need to boost my Christmas card production!! For this challenge Jo (Jo Blogs) and elf Meghan (Made by Meghan K) are getting their Grinch on & using GREEN!! That means making green the focus of the color scheme - yes, I can!


Supplies: Paper - Co'redinations glitter; Neenah White;
Paper Studio A2 card; Lawn Fawn Petite Plaid Rainbow; 
scrap of green for branch
Stamps with Dies - My Favorite Things Winter Songbird (retired);
Hot Foil Plate with Dies - Lawn Fawn Winter Big Scripty Words 
(dies HERE)
Dies - Lawn Fawn Winter Wonderland Window;
Elizabeth Craft Designs Pine Cones
Other - Copic Markers; foam tape; Spellbinders gold foil;
Taylored Expressions pre-printed sentiment strip

I picked up the Lawn Fawn snowflake window last week at Anchor Paper - all dies except new releases were 15% off so I went a little crazy. Plus, Lawn Fawn is sponsoring our March Die Cut Divas Challenge so I wanted to be sure I was well stocked for my Diva posts. Couldn't wait until then to use this set though! Cut the snowflake part from white glitter paper, then cut the arch part into an A2 card. Backed the arched window with green plaid paper then popped the snowflake frame on top with foam tape. Die cut a branch & added it into the window, curling up the needles.

Next I stamped, die cut and colored the birdies. I'd thought to paper piece the sweaters but I couldn't find a print that worked with the stamped patterns. Just did some quick Copic coloring. Added the birdies to the branch. I had the foiled and printed sentiments in the Christmas bits box; added them to the card - done!

I'll also add my card to Darnell's March NBUS Challenge #60 since the snowflake set got first play here. And also to Ellie's current I Spy With My Little Eye Challenge #12 since bird starts with b and branch too, for that matter! That's my 4th entry at I Spy (limit of 5).

That's it for today - thanks for stopping by & enjoy your weekend!!




Monday, March 4, 2024

Smooshed inks on an Easter Card!

Happy Monday! Very gloomy here to start the day but the weekend was crazy warm for this time of year; it got up to 74F. In Minnesota, in March?? Anyway, not so nice today but I needed to get busy on my Easter cards!

I was thinking ahead to Darnell's (djkardkreations) IDEAS plan for this week - first Monday of the month so "I" is for inks/color mediums. I had decided to do some ink smooshing using acetate & did a blue and a green panel yesterday. So I was delighted to see Darnell's gorgeous smooshed vases (she used Lindy's magicals). I just used plain ol' water reactive inks for the greens and Distress Oxide inks for the blues. Here's my card:


Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White;
My Favorite Things Colorful Canvas; many scraps
Stamps with dies - Avery Elle Easter Egg (dies HERE)
Dies - Spellbinders Spring Reflection (DOML-Feb23);
My Favorite Things Sunflower Wreath
Other - Copic Markers; foam tape

I smooshed inks on a piece of acetate, spritzed with water and pressed onto a panel of Neenah white (110 lb). Did this multiple times, drying between each layer. Here are my finished panels:



Bought a sweet Avery Elle bunny stamp set plus the coordinating dies last week at my local crafting mecca, Anchor Paper. Stamped the bunny image on Neenah, then a second one of just the egg/hand part, then a third of the latter on patterned paper. Die cut the full image and fussy cut the rest. Then I stamped & fussy cut the hands. I colored the images with Copics as needed, adhered the layers & popped the hands with foam tape.

Next I die cut an oval three times from a Spellbinders set I've used a few times lately - it was still on the craft table! I cut once from another piece of white (for dimension), once from the smooshed blue and once from the smooshed green. I die cut the green oval down with a grass/leaf die and trimmed off the leaves that looked too tall. Layered these up and added the assembled bunny.

Die cut the side panel twice from the smooshed green and added some extra ink to the edges. This side panel is different from the one I used on previous cards (see them HERE, & HERE if you missed them); the die set comes with two options! Next I die cut an orange A2 panel and adhered it to the card base, then the side panels and assembled oval with bunny. Die cut a sentiment, some flowers and leaves then arranged them around the bottom of the egg. 

I'll add this to Darnell's March NBUS Challenge since the bunny is newly used. And since B is for Bunny, I'll also link up (entry #3) at Ellie's current I Spy with My Little Eye Challenge. While I was at it, I made a second bunny in this style. I also stamped and Copic colored a third bunny with no dimension or paper piecing.

Thanks for stopping by & have a crafty day!!




Saturday, March 2, 2024

February 2024 Card Chain Reveal

I'm back, as usual, on the 2nd to reveal cards going 'round the world - this time for the February 2024 Card Chain Challenge!  Thirty-four people participated and you can see the entire reveal HERE. My card went to Kath (Handmade by Kath) in the UK. 


Supplies: Paper - Neenah white; Bazzill A2 card;
Sunny Studio Flirty Flowers
Stamps - Hero Arts Many Everyday Messages & Be Happy (both retired)
Stamps with dies - Simon Says Stamp Darling Friends (retired)
Dies - My Favorite Things Stitched Scallop Basic Edges
Stencils - Taylored Expressions Set the Scene - Clouds
Other - Copic Markers; white gel pen; 
Park Lane gems; Memento Tuxedo Black & Sky Blue inks

As I often do, I used the color palette & followed the sketch. This time I included one of the theme options Balloon which I translated to a hot air balloon! Kath has used kitty images on her cards in the past so I put a kitty in the balloon basket.

Colour Palette Option

Sketch Option




Theme Options: Balloons / Flowers / Friendship

Product / Technique Options: Twine / Stencil


I took the time to do some stenciling on the envelope's flap - inspired by Hilary (Fiddling About) who also plays in the CCC & typically fancies up her envelopes. 


Sweet Imke (My Crafty Place) sent me this card:


I love her take on the sketch & she used my favorite color - yay!! Thanks, Imke!! That's it for today, friends. Interested in joining in? Come on - it's fun! Sign up for March HERE by March 6th.

Thanks for stopping and have a crafty day!!


Friday, March 1, 2024

Pomegranate Thanks

Hi everyone - welcome! I'm back with a final thank you card for birthday gifts received last month. I didn't worry about being slow on this one since it'll go to my brother and his wife who are notoriously slow - lol. Wasn't sure what to do until I saw the current Just Us Girls Challenge #716 where you're to CASE one of the designers. 

I like to tell my friends Lin (Sending Hugs) and Jean (Right as Rain) that I'd never get to my Spellbinders boxes if it weren't for their inspiration. Now I have to add Bobby (Bits and Pieces) to that list! She made a gorgeous card using Spellbinders August 2023 Large Die of the Month. Here's my card inspired by Bobby:


Supplies: Paper - Park Lane A2 card;
My Favorite Things Colorful Canvas & many scraps
Dies - Spellbinders Blooming Pomegranate (DOML-AUG23);
Embossing folder - Spellbinders Arches & Dots (EOM-AUG23)
Other - Park Lane gold gems; foam tape

I thought I knew where the die set was - nope, not where I looked first...Instead I found the December 2023 box unopened (I blame the holidays). Second place I looked - success!! Box was opened but "unprocessed"; I like to put a magnet sheet on the brand info sheet for each set. Quickly did that, then worked to decide on papers for the pomegranate card. Since I had MFT's canvas pad out from other projects, I decided to emboss a greyish brown piece using a folder from the August 2023 box. First I cut the panel with a stitched rectangle, then embossed. Added it to an A2 card.

I loved the colors Bobby used on her flowers so went through the scraps drawers to find similar ones. My green branch is more olive than hers but I liked it against the background I chose. Die cut all the elements and assembled them while watching television yesterday - I felt so productive!! The set includes the thanks sentiment - handy! Note: after posting this, I went back and noticed that Bobby included five of the little white flowers on her card (mine are more cream colored). The die set cuts 4 in one pass but I decided I liked the fifth one so cut an extra and added it!! Just didn't take a new photo -lol. Luckily I had planned to write out and mail the card tomorrow so I had time for the addition!!

Thanks for the inspiration, Bobby!! I hope you enjoy my take on your card! Since my die set got first play here, I'll also link up to Darnell's March NBUS Challenge

Thanks for stopping by and have a crafty day! I'll be back tomorrow with the usual 2nd of the month Card Chain Challenge Reveal. Note: can still sign up for the March Chain if you link up by the 6th.