Last Day for our June 2026 Divas Anything Goes Challenge

Hey there - I'm part of the last day inspiration post at Die Cut Divas today. Our Anything Goes Challenge (with die cuts &/or embossing folders, of course) ends at 9p Pacific Time. Get in those final entries if you haven't already maxed out at 4! Here's the project I shared there:

ATC Front

ATC Back

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White

Stamps - Whimsy Stamps ATC Frames and Signatures

Dies - Whimsy Stamps Slimline ATC Windows

Stencils - Lisa Horton Crafts Stencil Deck

Other - Nuvo paste; printed sentiment strip;

various Hero Arts inks

Once again, I went with something other than a card and made an ATC! I started by die cutting the ATC. The Whimsy set cuts two at a time so I usually use the second one as a backer (and did so here). For the front, I did some stenciling using a new product to me - Lisa Horton's Stencil Deck. I learned of it through Chelsea, owner of Inky Stamper, so I bought my set from her (link above is to her store). I don't get anything for referrals but I like to support smaller companies & Chelsea's price is cheaper than other sources I've seen. 

I started by stenciling the wavy background, then used a dotted one and finally the feather. Since the stencils fit perfectly onto an ATC, this was very eary to do! After doing the feather in a dark teal, I stenciled the shimmery paste over it. The Whimsy ATC stamp set was used on the back panel for all the ATC details. I popped this into the bday card I sent to Jo (Jo's Blogs); she celebrated earlier this month.

As usual, I have a bonus; today it's a birthday card for my cousin's 3 year old grandson. You may remember his sister Addy coming to my house last year and making him a card.

Supplies: Paper - Recollections A2 card;

Paper Studio cardstock;  scrap of patterned

Dies - Spellbinders Sir Spelly - Party Time Dragon,

Essential Arches, Color Block Accent Arches;

AJVD Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set;

DoCrafts Serif Numbers (retired)

Embossing Folder - Pink & Main from Birthday Bash kit

Other - Recollections puffy stickers; gel pens

The sweet dragon came with a Spellbinders order - love him!! First I die cut all the dragon pieces and the ballon. I sat on a Zoom call with crafty friends on Saturday & assembled it. Since it was for a young child I went with mostly bright colors. Next I die cut a blue panel with a stitched rectangle, embossed with the birthday text and added to an A2 card. 

To hold the dragon, I decided on an arch. I die cut two essential arches and one color block accent arch and assembled. Added it to the card with a patterned strip behind. Popped the dragon onto the arch along with a puffy sticker sentiment. Doodled some details with gel pens - done!

Since Sir Spelly is getting first play here, I'll add my card to Darnell's June NBUS Challenge #87. I also link up to Seize the Birthday #329 using the Anything Goes options (my 2nd entry there).

The Divas have no sponsor this month but one Diva offers a $25 gift card to Whimsy as our June prize. We will award it by random draw from eligible June entries so get those last entries in by 9p Pacific Time today! Hope to see you in the June Gallery!

Thanks for stopping and have a crafty day!!

A Robot & ATC for Paperganza!

Hey crafty friends! I've been MOA for a bit - here's why - PAPERGANZA!! I was very excited to travel to a Craft Roulette in-person event in Kansas City this past weekend. I drove down with my sister-in-law Donna and we met Diva Arlene (A Bit of This and That) who flew in from California.

Here's the card I created for the Paperganza card swap:

Supplies: Paper - Spellbinders A2 card;

Sunny Studio Rainbow Bright; scraps;

My Favorite Things Black Licorice & Limelight

Dies - Trinity Stamps Robot Builder;

Hero Arts Phrase Bubbles (retired)

AJVD Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set

Embossing Folder - Sizzix Interface (retired)

Other - Recollections gems and heart;

computer printed sentiment

We had to bring 11 so here's a shot of the entire batch:

It took many hours to assemble 11 little robots, especially paper-piecing the bitty roulette wheel - yikes! I made most of robots the same, except for eye color changes. If you look closely, though, I gave the robot at lower right lips! I used a Spellbinders sun die set (see a card with the sun HERE). It was very fussy so I ended up only doing one with the lips - LOL. But I enjoyed the effort to create these little guys - attendees loved them! I'll tell you what we did with them in another post.

The fun started with Thursday night check-in/meet & greet and ended with a dinner Saturday night. While hotel costs were separate, the event fee included all meals, classes and an incredible swag bag. The hotel meeting room was arranged with tables of 8 with plenty of room for crafting! They called them "pods" and allowed for decorating them. We kept ours simple just some sparkly tablecloths and low centerpieces that didn't impinge on views of the instructors. I brought an ATC and some Spellbinders gems as a little gift for my podmates:

Supplies: Paper - many scraps

Dies - Whimsy Slimline ATC Windows;

Spellbinders 4 Petal Thank You Floral,

Colorful Expressions Sentiments (DOM-Aug24), 

& Honey Bee Jar (DOML-Jan24)

Stencil - Frantic Stamper Old Brick Wall

Other - Paper Studio stars; Hero Arts Unicorn White ink

On the back I used Whimsy ATC Frames and Signatures stamps.

Here's a photo of Arlene, me & Donna (left to right) shortly after check-in. I look pretty windblown from unpacking the car - yikes!

I'll be back tomorrow with more photos & details, as well as my Craft Roulette card made during the event. 

I'm adding my robot card to Darnell's July NBUS Challenge #76 since the robot builder dies are newly used.

Thanks for stopping by and have a crafty day!!

ATC on a Christmas Card!

Hi all - I watched Craft Roulette Episode 275 live last night, despite my long hours of Tim Holtz crafting yesterday. If you missed those projects, go HERE. Here's my CR card, created during the show:

Supplies: Paper - Paper Studio A2 card; 

Neenah Solar White; scrap of blue

Stamps - Whimsy ATC Frames and Signatures

Dies - Spellbinders Holiday Greetings (retired

but HERE at Frantic Stamper, called Snowflake Bliss);

Simon Says Stamp slot die (in TH class kit)

Other - Versamark ink and Seafoam white embossing powder;

Distress Inks - Chipped Sapphire, Black Soot, Blueprint Sketch;

Spellbinders gems & puffy sticker; SSS printed sentiment

Mary & 1st time guest Hannah C. (‪@MostlyPaperCrafts‬) had fun with the parameters:

• Project - Include an ATC: I made an A2 card and included an ATC.
• Colors - Starry Night: I used dark blues, black & white. 
• Element - Down: My ATC slides down into a slotted panel. 
• Random - White Dots: I stamped and white embossed using an ATC stamp.

So, I still had my Tim Holtz class stuff all over the place. Grabbed the slot die we used and made a panel to slide my ATC into. I ink blended black and blues on an A2 card & spritzed with water. Stamped an ATC base, which included white dots, onto a blue card & white embossed it. Looked for my ATC die set - found it after I'd already trimmed it with a paper trimmer! Oh well. Rounded the corners with a corner punch. 

Grabbed an old Spellbinders snowflake die set and cut two white and one blue. Added some blue gems to the ATC's snowflake. Used a Spellbinders puffy sticker sentiment on the ATC and a Simon printed sentiment to cover the bottom slot. Here's a photo of the ATC out of its slot:

I will send this card to a new challenge for me - Cut it Up where for Challenge #334 they're doing Christmas in July (must use a die cut). My friend Darnell (djkardkreations) is guest designing! I will also play at Darnell's IDEAS for this week where I is for inks. My ink blended background qualifies!!

That's it for today, friends. Thanks for stopping by & I hope you have a crafty weekend!!

Some Never-Before-Used Whimsy!

Hi all - I'm providing inspiration over at Die Cut Divas today with the card below. We're doing Never-Before-Used-Stuff for our January Challenge. My friend Darnell calls it "Schtuff" on her challenge blog NBUS, always using new! She coined the acronym and I play there often, otherwise I'd never use new schtuff - thanks, Darnell!! Here's my card using new Whimsy (not a sponsor but a $15 prize donor - thanks!):

Supplies: Paper - White (brand unk); Acetate;

A2 card from Paper Studio; Sunny Studio Rainbow Bright

Stamps - Whimsy Stamps Comic Book Page

Stamps with Dies - Whimsy Stamps A Bunny Birthday (retired) &

Hey Ostrich (dies HERE)

Dies - A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set

Other - Darice sequins; Copic Markers; 

SSS sentiment strip; foam tape; white gel pen

Diva Arlene (A Bit of This and That) sent me some stamp-offs of the Comic page, the ostritches (I used one of the four images here), and the birthday cake (plus some bunnies from the same set for future use). I have plenty of never-before-used Whimsy that I was ready to employ but I was taken with the cute ostriches. I thought one would make a fun birthday card for my friend Debbie.

I diecut the comic book page Arlene had stamped, then fussy cut the center. Inked the edges and colored with Copics, put acetate behind the window and created a shaker with foam tape & another rectangle (dotted paper from Sunny). Shaker mix was mostly sequins but there were some other random things in there like bitty hearts. Added the cake and ostrich, also colored with Copics, & a sentiment strip. Adhered everything to an A2 card - done!

How about a bonus? I love making ATCs (Artist Trading Cards), little works of art to exchange with friends. Years ago on the Hero Arts group, we had many ATC exchanges. I was taken with a group of Whimsy items designed with ATCs in mind & had to add them to the stash. Of course, they went onto Mount NBUS & I'm just finally using them!! First up - a trio of Ostrich ATCs:

Supplies: Paper - Hero Arts Latte (retired) & Bermuda; Neenah White;

Whimsy Ugly Sweater Slimline (retired); MFT Canvas

Stamps with Dies - Whimsy Stamps Hey Ostrich (dies HERE)

Dies - Whimsy Stamps Slimline ATC Windows Die Set;

CAS-ual Fridays Smile (NIB)

Other - Copic Markers; SSS sentiment strips

I love how the ATC die cuts two at a time, plus there are plenty of layering dies. Next, I made an ATC book box for them; here's a shot of the top, plus one of the ATC backs:

Supplies: Paper - Hero Arts Bermuda

Dies - Whimsy Stamps ATC Book Die Set

Stamps - Whimsy Stamps ATC Frames and Signatures

Stencil - Hero Arts Script

Other - Hero Arts Bermuda Ink & 

Ocean Blue+Gold Two-Tone Metallic Spray

Here are a couple more views - side & open:

I like to leave the boxes detatched from the book so you can slide them out without wearing out the clasp & tab. I used some of the pop outs from the top's corners to embellish the label and tab. I'm adding my box to Darnell's January NBUS Challenge since my box die set is newly used, as is the ATC stamp set & die set - so fun!! 

Hope to see you at the Divas January Challenge too! Thanks for stopping & happy crafting!!

More Ireland including Best Latte!!

Back with more on my July trip to Ireland and England. I'm still on Day 3 (July 21st) and am sharing some photos my friend Heather took as well as my own. In this post I talked about St Canice's Cathedral and showed my photo of a set of its doors. Here's Heather's photo of the building, including the doors, with grounds - she had walked up a hill behind the cemetery to get this shot. She calls it one of her "where's Linda?" series (and no, I'm not sitting to the right of the cathedral - I think that's the priest!).

From the Cathedral we headed off to find the "best coffee in Ireland" about which the craft shop clerk had told us. He didn't know the name of the place but said it was a grey building just down the way. Several blocks later we finally spotted it and learned its name - Cakeface Paisserie. It was a small but charming place that included a back patio (a place for the smokers to hang out so we avoided it). Here I am eyeing the goodies like a kid in a candy store:

Oh my, what to choose?? Finally settled on a red velvet and a pistachio cake, plus a latte for me; Heather prefers tea. That latte tasted amazing and the cakes were divine too. I told the staff that it was a good thing I didn't live in Kilkenny because I'd be there every day.

I took what I thought was a darling photo of Heather at Cakeface but she didn't like it - so I'm not sharing. You'll have to settle for these photos of me... No, I didn't eat both cakes - Heather and I shared! And it was the best latte, EVER, and I've had many.

Here's another view (see mine here) of Kilkenny Castle - another one in Heather's "where's Linda?" series.

Yes, I'm the poor idiot in the foreground wearing capri pants; there weren't many dressed that way, although there were some. It was cold and rainy but I only had one pair of long jeans and they were dirty from a doggy jumping on me at Blessington on Day 2. As usual, Heather was willing to walk far enough away to get a good shot. We walked all around the building and saw a couple of rowing teams practicing on the river to the right of the castle. All that footage is on my camcorder.

I'll share an ATC I made at home for Heather and brought in my suitcase, along with a card I'd been saving in my stash for years for the right occasion. I also brought a few crafty items and Heather was sweet enough to gift me some fun stuff to add to my stash (will share cards with her gifts in future).

Supplies: Paper - DCWV shimmer paper; Michael's green; Neenah white

Dies - Tim Holtz ATC; Lawn Fawn grassy border; Momenta words

Stamps - Hero Arts From the Vault Flowers (with matching die)

Other - Copic markers

That's it for Day 3. Thanks for stopping by and I'll try to share more photos from my trip!

Another set of ATCs - Hero Arts and Lily Pad Cards

My friend Heather Maria, sweet former Hero Hostess sister, organized a fun ATC swap at Hero Arts Flickr group.  I was paired with Latrice who happens to be on the Dream Team over at Lily Pad Cards.  We decided to exchange three ATCs so these are the ones I sent her:

Her package is on its way to me so I should get it later this week.  I had such fun making these ATCs - all with various Hero Arts stamps and, on the house one, a fun digi kit from Lily Pad Cards.  I cut the sweet fence using my Silhouette SD on Core'dinations paper - it was an embossed ivory with a warm beige center which came through when sanded.  So I'm adding this one to their April digital die cut challenge.
Thanks for stopping!

Trio of ATCs

Hi all - it's been awhile since I posted!  Last weekend I participated in a Regional Sweet Adelines' singing contest.  We had a wonderful time and my chorus City of Lakes won the chorus contest.  This qualifies us to go to the International contest level in 2012.  So, the next 17 months will be full of preparations - rehearsals, special coaching, costume fittings, etc.

But, there's always time for crafting!  Last night I went to a 6hr crop at Archiver's with some friends - the 7 of us were the only ones there!  We had a great evening and I managed to make 3 ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) for the current Hero Arts contest.  All stamps used came from Hero Arts - I think I had about 15 sets with me at the crop and managed to use 7 of them to create these three little cards!

CG303 Luscious Bold Flowers Set
CG250 Small Solid Flower
CG298 Life Of The Party Dots - a fave
CG307 Sweet Threads Spirals - stamped this twice in different colors and directions - love the yellow!
CL520 Live And Laugh - a great sentiment set
CL491 Made with Love - another wonderful sentiment set
CL184 Thoughtful Messages - used the butterfly and bitty flower from this set which also has lovely sentiments.

Besides stamping with various Distress Inks, I used some watercolor pencils and embossing.  Thanks for stopping by!