July 2026 Card Chain Challenge Reveal

Hi everyone! Yikes - August 2nd already - summer has flown, hasn't it?! 

It's time to reveal cards that went around the world for the July 2026 Card Chain. Twenty-six people participated and you can see the full reveal HERE. My card headed west to Arlene (A Bit of This and That), friend and sister Diva in California.

Supplies: Paper - Park Lane gold A2 card;

Paper Studio Distressed Floral;

My Favorite Things Colorful Canvas; 

Scrapbook.com Watercolor Patterned A2;

scrap of gold patterned, brand unk

Dies - Elizabeth Craft Design Small Doilies (retired);

Scrapbook.com Thank You Sentiments III

Other - Recollections puffy sticker;

TH Frayed Burlap Distress Ink; foam tape;

Hero Arts Translucent Pink Enamel Dots

We had the following options when creating our cards:

Color Palette Option

Sketch Option

Theme Options: Cocktails / Pets / Friendship

Product / Technique Options: Embossing Powder / Ink Blending

I used the gorgeous color combo of kraft, blossom (which I read as a soft pink) & gold. I also followed the sketch, pretty much - my measurements were off so I ended up with a larger space than I wanted in the center of my vertical strips. Oh well, I went with it. As usual, the theme of friendship came in to play for my sentiment. I won't claim the technique of ink blending, although I did ink the edges of the patterned papers...

I trimmed four strips of a soft pink patterned paper and one gold patterned. Next I die cut a kraft patterned stitched rectangle and assembled, then added to a gold A2 card. Before JoAnn closed its door I bought bunches of these cards - love them!! 

Next I die cut a soft pink doily and hello, a white shadow layer hello and a gold outline. Assembled and added to the card. A puffy sticker friend and some pink enamel dots finished the card front.

I received this beauty from longtime friend and former Diva, Lucille (White Points) in New Jersey. We actually met in person over 10 years ago at ScrapFest in the Mall of America - a fabulous event I miss. I just love her grid design & the texture is amazing!! Thanks, Lucille & thanks too for the fabulous bookmark & die cuts!!

Come and join the fun - check it out HERE by 8/6 if you want to play in the August Chain. You only have to make and send one card! 

Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a crafty day!!

Hello Robot!

Hey there - happy Saturday! I watched Craft Roulette Episode #330 last night and made a card during the show:

Supplies: Paper - Paper Studio A2 card & cardstock;

Lawn Fawn & MFT patterns

Dies - Concord & 9th Holiday Cheer Tag Dies (retired);

Frantic Stamper Robot (retired)

Other - Recollections puffy stickers & gems;

foam tape; Park Lane tassel (from the old JoAnn)

Host Mary Gunn had Amanda Stevens (‪@PearBlossomPress‬), owner of Pear Blossom Press, as her guest. Pear Blossom is famous for the light up mechanisms to make fabulous light up cards. Amanda will be at Craft Roulette Live in Kansas City later this summer.

The wheel was spun 4 times, as usual, for our parameters - not too bad, though I couldn't find at least three items I wanted to use! At least I happened upon something!!

• Project - Tag with Pocket: I put a pocket with tag onto an A2 card. 
• Colors - Trick Or Treat: I used Orange/Black/Purple/Lime green. 
• Element - Robot(S) Or "Bo-Bot": I used a robot die. 
• Random - 3 Strips of Paper: I added 3 paper strips behind my pocket. 

I pulled out a purple ombré portrait A2 card and added three strips of patterned paper. Die cut the pocket and tag and assembled. Added a tassel to the tag.

Next I die cut the robot and added to the pocket with foam tape, then added the pocket to the card. Put a puffy sticker and some gems on the robot and colored a few spots with a metallic pen. If desired, you can see a previous card with that cute robot die HERE. Sadly, yesterday was Frantic Stamper's last day in business as Fran wanted to retire. I'll miss them!!

That's it for today. I hope you have a crafty weekend!!

Last Day for Die Cut Divas July Challenge

Hello friends - I'm at Die Cut Divas today with final inspiration for our July Die Cut Divas Challenge - Christmas in July. You have until 9pm Pacific time to enter a Christmas project using a die &/or embossing folder. That is, if you haven't already maxed out on four entries!

We have Waffle Flower as our sponsor and I couldn't miss using WF Postage Collage products!!

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White;

Tim Holtz kraft core cardstock

Stamps w/dies - Waffle Flower Elegant Christmas 2 (dies)

Dies - Waffle Flower Postage Collage &

Postage Collage Blocks

Stencils - Waffle Flower Postage Collage Christmas,

 Gingerbread, Poinsettia, Snowman & Snowy

Other - various inks, including Gina K, SSS & Hero Arts;

pencils and pens; Recollections gem; foam tape

Waffle Flower has a $15 gift card to their online store for our

July random winner!

I've made several varieties of postage collages, mainly sticking to one stencil set per collage. Click HERE to see the Christmas collage with some process photos, if interested.

This time I did a mash up of 5 sets! Since there are six spots in a collage, I used two sections from one of the stencil sets (Snowman). To make it super easy, I used the Waffle Flower 9x12 Media Mat and popped the panel and stencils into the corner. I did have to mask off portions of the stencils with post-it notes so I didn't get ink in the wrong spots.

After stenciling all the layers of each block on a panel of Neenah, I die cut it with the postage collage blocks die. Next I die cut a postage collage out of a red textured cardstock and glued the blocks into their spots. I did some detailing on the various blocks with sharpies, pencils and a white gel pen. Popped a WF sentiment on the panel & adhered it to a white A2 card. Added a gem to the center of the snowflake & done!

Ready for a bonus? It wouldn't be a Waffle Flower Christmas for me unless I use the Fa La La Llama set which I got in last year's Black Friday sale (see a previous version HERE). I love this set soooo much!! This time I made a llama shaped card & used grey and purple so it looks totally different from last year's card.

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White;

Dies - Waffle Flower Fa La La Llama Die n Stencil set

Other - various inks, including Gina K, SSS 

& TH Distress;

pencils & white gel pen; Glossy Accents

I stenciled the llama on a piece of Neenah, shaded with pencil and added gel pen details. Die cut it with the included die. Die cut the eyes and mouth and adhered. Next I die cut the llama shape from a top fold A2 card, making sure to let it go off the top edge sufficiently for the card to retain a fold. I adhered the stenciled piece onto the front so the pointy leaves stick up above the fold. Added Glossy Accents to the berries & done! Here's a view of the card standing:

That's it for today. I hope to see you in the July Diva Gallery! Happy crafting!!

More Christmas Chaos!

Hey friends - hope you're staying cool and natural disaster free! Normally I would've watched Card Chaos last night but the host Irene didn't have power. Luckily those awful storms yesterday didn't affect her too badly! Irene's up and running again today and invited us to share our No Stamping cards made in 15 minutes. I timed myself and made the two cards I would've done last night. Of course, regular card bases and embellishments can be used. For me, if there's no stamping, I go for die cutting!!

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White;

Paper Studio cardstock

Dies - Poppystamps Nordic Border Set

Birch Press Designs Block Print Festive Joy

Memory Box Blooming Poinsettias

Other - SSS Starshine embellishments

For this one, I die cut the plaid texture directly into a red A2 card base. Next I die cut JOY from lime green and white & layered. In the white die cutting pass, I also die cut the Nordic border. Note: the Joy die set comes with extra pieces to embellish the word but I just cut the base layer here.

Glued the border directly to the card base and popped the JOY on with foam tape. Added a preassembled die cut flower to the center of the JOY's O with foam tape. Added a few Starshine embellishments and done in under 15 minutes. We can use prepared bits from the stash and I'd made the poinsettia after last week's Chaos - die cut during but assembled later.

I'll add card one to Merry Little Christmas #69 where Anything Christmas Goes. This is my 4th entry (max 8). I will also share at Darnell's July NBUS Challenge #88 since my Joy die got first play here.

For the second card I used layered MERRY CHRISTMAS die cuts & added to a horizonal yellow A2 card base. Too bright? I wanted to bring out the poinsettia centers and give some contrast for my sentiment. I added a trio of leftover poinsettias & more Starshine dots. Done in under 15 minutes.

Supplies: Paper - Paper Studio cardstock & A2 card

Dies - Spellbinders Merry Christmas (retired);

Memory Box Blooming Poinsettias

Other - SSS Starshine embellishments

That's it for now - thanks for visiting & have a crafty day!! Oh and remember, Die Cut Divas is doing Christmas in July - check it out if you have a Christmas project with die cuts &/or embossing folders.

A Strawberry Birthday!

Hey there - happy Saturday! I watched Craft Roulette Episode #329 last night and made a card during the show:

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White;

Lawn Fawn & American Crafts patterned; Paper Studio A2 card

Stamps w/dies - Waffle Flower Sweet Strawberry (sold out)

Dies - AJVD Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set

Other - Copic Markers; Recollections puffy stickers;

SSS Starshine dots; May Arts String Twine

Host Mary Gunn had Donna Mack (‪@purplepinkypromises202mainA‬), owner of a Kansas City area craft store, as her guest. Purple Pinky Promises will be invaded by a bunch of us when we go to KC later this summer! The wheel was spun 4 times for our parameters - not my fave project but oh well...

• Project - Book Binding Card: I formed one from a printed A2 card. 
• Colors - Roadside Market: I used yellow, green and red for corn and peppers. 
• Element - Plant(S): I used a strawberry plant image. 
• Random - Grid: I used some grid patterned paper. 

I pulled out a yellow ombré portrait A2 card and scored the left edge at .5" and glued it on the inside for the book binding part. Next I added a strip of grid paper and string twine to the front of that binding. Also die cut two rectangles and added to the right side. Stamped, die cut and colored the strawberry image. Popped onto the card with foam tape and added a puffy birthday sentiment & dots. Very quick - I think it took me about 45 minutes.

I'll send this card to Seize the Birthday #331 using the Anything Goes Option.

That's it for today. I hope you have a crafty weekend!! I'm off to a Hallmark event and then doing Saturday Morning Crafting with Inky Stamper.

Snowman Fun!

TGIF friends - I'm glad the weekend approaches! I'm here with a snowman card for the July 2026 CAS Christmas Challenge. I was delighted to see that Loll brought this challenge back in June but I didn't get there. Had to make the effort this month - here's my card:

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White;

Paper Studio Ombré A2 card

Stamps w/dies - SSS/Memory Box Good Cheer (retired)

Dies - AJVD Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set;

Memory Box Countryside Circle (retired)

Other - printed sentiment strip from stash;

Copic Markers; white gel pen; foam tape

I wanted to use more snowman images I'd stamped after being gifted the SSS/Memory Box Stamptember 2025 set - love this set! You can see my first card HERE - a much busier card so I reined it in for a CAS design.

I die cut a stitched rectangle from Neenah white and included a Memory Box die that cuts a window in the same pass. Added the panel to an ombré card along with a printed sentiment strip. Colored my stamped snowman with Copics, added gel pen details and popped onto the card. Very quick and easy. While the MB die is retired, Birch Press has a similar version called Block Print Starry Night Scene; I used it HERE if interested.

I made a second version in pink on Monday during Card Chaos Episode #54 where the theme was Pop of Pink (mine was the pink card). At Chaos you only have 15 minutes for the card and I managed this one in 14 minutes. Here, I added some pearl dots that came in an Inky Stamper kit since the single sentiment strip seemed a little bare. 

Chaos has two rounds so I made a second card:

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White;

Spellbinders texty paper from an old kit; 

BoBunny red print; Paper Studio cardstock

Dies - Memory Box Blooming Poinsettias

Other - free printed sentiment strip from 

Debbie J's Crafting Corner

SSS Starshine dots;

Black Soot Distress Ink

I found some Spellbinders paper that had a bright pink texty Christmas pattern & decided that would be my pop of pink. Added a strip of it to a top fold card formed from Neenah white. Die cut and assembled a poinsettia with leaves and added it to the card. Inked the edges of a printed sentiment strip & popped onto the card. Added enamel dots and was done in 12 minutes. I had a bunch more poinsettia pieces which I assembled later. For the second round I like to keep it simple so I have time to upload to the livestream.

I will add this card to Merry Little Christmas #69 where Anything Christmas Goes; this is my third entry.

That's it for today; thanks for stopping! I'll be watching Craft Roulette Episode #329 tonight; join us on YouTube at 6:10p CST (or watch later on replay), if interested. Happy crafting!!

Scooter Elf!

Hey crafty friends - hope you've enjoying the week! I recently received the July My Monthly Hero kit and decided to use it to create a second card for the July Christmas Kickstart Challenge #112 - theme "Grace us with your Presents"; in other words include gifts!

Supplies: Paper - Paper Studio Ombré A2 card;

Paper Studio cardstock; Authentique, 

Basic Grey & BoBunny patterned papers 

Stamps - Hero Arts (for Archivers) Christmas Joy (retired)

Dies - Hero Arts Let's Ride (Jul26 MMH);

Spellbinders Sweater Weather Friend (DOMST-Jul26),

Snow Much Fun (DOM-Jul26) & Under the Sun

Other - white gel pens; snowflakes brand unk;

Recollections clear gems; foam tape

I was inspired by a card I saw in the Craft Roulette #327 gallery. Member Beth had turned the July 2026 Hero Arts scooter girl into a bride. She left off the sidecar on her card but I decided to include the sidecar and fill it with gifts. Loads of die cutting here & I supplemented the scooter girl set with a hat and gift die from two July Spellbinders sets. Added a strip of white "snow" to a pink ombré A2 card - I was still thinking of CR#328's parameters of tutti fruitti colors with an unusual color. A totally pink sky definitely qualifies as unusual, right?!

I will also share at Darnell's July NBUS Challenge #88 since my Let's Ride die set got first play today. Plus I'll play at the July Creative Crafters #102 where Anything Goes & Merry Little Christmas Challenge #69 where Anything Christmas Goes.

That's it for today. Thanks for visiting and happy crafting!!