Another Birthday?

Hello all,

I'm playing along with the January 2026 edition of Woodblock Wednesday today. The monthly challenge where Amy gives us the motivation to use our neglected wood mounted rubber stamps. I'm always ready to play along each month.

I've got a punny birthday card today using stamps from Uptown Rubber Stamps and Penny Black. 

I started by finding some background patterned papers in my stash. I paired these with a floral embossing folder from Honey Bee. After stamping the topiary image, I colored it with Copics and mounted it on an espresso frame, cut with a Pink Fresh Studio die. The flowers under the sentiment are from SU.

I split up the sentiment with part on the front and the rest on the inside below. It cracks me up!

Hope you enjoy your Thursday evening and the upcoming weekend.

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Topiary stamp from Uptown Rubber Stamps and sentiment stamp from Penny Black

Paper: SU Espresso, Gina K Designs white, Pebbles Treehouse patterned paper

Ink: Gina K Designs and Copic markers

Other: Kaleidoscope 3D Embossing Folder from Honey Bee, Folk Edge Square dies from Pink Fresh Studio, enamel flowers from Stampin' Up, 

Happy Birthday

Happy Hump Day Peeps,

My Bestie got me a Waffleflower gift card back in July for my birthday and I sat on it until this month when the January release caught my eye. I ordered several fun things, including a few of the newest Postage Collage stencils. (Stenciling has become my favorite lately.)

I've used one of the new stencils to make my card for this week's Paper Players Challenge. Jaydee is our hostess with a fun sketch and this new Peony stencil fit her sketch very well. In addition to the Paper Players challenge, it's Anything Goes Stencil week at Just Us Girls so this card works for that challenge too.

I added lots of layers to this card using some older SU dies and a Spellbinders 3D embossing folder. The sentiment strip is a preprinted one from Gina K.

For the inside of the card I used a Gina K stamp, my favorite for birthdays, and another stenciled peony.

Here are a couple of cards made with my new Postage Collage stencil packs. The stamps are also part of the Postage Collage line from Waffleflower.

I couldn't resist these kitties :)

This is the Peony Postage Collage stencil.

Enjoy your Wednesday afternoon!

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Gentle Silhouettes set by Gina K Designs, Postage Collage Stamps by Waffleflower

Paper: Gina K Designs

Ink: Gina K Designs

Other: Waffleflower NPC Peony stencil pack, Postage Collage Meow stencil pack, and Postage Collage Peony stencil pack, Waffleflower Postage Collage Die set, Stampin' Up Scalloped Contours Die set, Spellbinders Petite Bow 3D Embossing Folder, Gina K Designs pre-printed sentiment and Sentiment Strip dies, Blending Brushes, foam tape, Connect Glue

Daisy Garden Window Cards

Hi Peeps,

It's "Anything Goes Stencil Week" at Just Us Girls. I used a new to me stencil set from Concord & 9th to create two 5" x 7" cards.

Using a couple of Gina K Master Layouts die sets, a SSS 3D embossing folder, and a SSS background stamp I made two slightly different window cards.

Card one is a birthday card. I cut the arched window 5 times and layered them together as well as cutting small pieces of foam tape to pop it up over the flower background.

Here's the inside of card one. I used the leftover piece of the stenciled panel for added color along with the GKD sentiments.

Here's card two, a friendship card. I cut this window die five times as well, and also popped it up with pieces of foam tape.

The inside of card two has the same layout as card one.

Enjoy your Tuesday evening! Thanks for checking in.

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Sweet Garden Background stamp by Simon Says Stamp, Sending Flowers set (outside sentiments), Filled With Sunshine Mini set, Birthday Cheer Mini Set and Floral Friendship set all by Gina K Designs

Paper: Gina K Designs

Ink: Gina K Designs

Other: Daisy Bouquet Stencil Pack from Kristina Werner/Concord & 9th, Simon Says Stamp Stacked Blooms embossing folder, Gina K Designs Master Layouts 8, 17 and 20 dies, Blending brushes, foam tape, Connect glue

Love & Support

 Hello,

Today's card uses a stamp set and stencil set from Concord & 9th, designed by Kristina Werner. I love her designs and seem to not be able to resist buying a few each month.

I've used this week's Freshly Made Sketches layout, popping the circle elements behind the lily. 

Both the front and inside sentiments are from the Lily stamp set. I heat embossed the front sentiment on vellum with black embossing powder. The background is stenciled and I used the corresponding coloring stencils to color the lily element.

Here's the inside, very simple.

I'll add this condolences card to my stash. 

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Long Line Lilies by Kristina Werner/Concord & 9th

Paper: Concord & 9th, Gina K Designs Vellum

Ink: Concord & 9th, Gina K Designs embossing ink

Other: Florence Stencil pack by Kristina Werner/Concord & 9th, SSS A2 Scalloped Rectangle dies, Brutus Monroe black embossing powder, blending brushes, Spellbinders Scalloped circle dies

Let It Snow

 Happy Hump Day Peeps,

Yet another Winter Themed challenge for this week, and I have a fun card to share. This is a CASE of a card I saw in Yana's IG gallery from way back in 2022. 

Joanne is hostess for CAS week and her theme is Signs of Winter for the Paper Players.. I've made a single layer card with just stamping and a little Copic coloring. I've used four different GKD stamp sets, but I really like how fun it turned out. I especially like the green and pink colors.

Here's the inside.

It's more tennis watching for me this morning, oh, and some laundry. I hope your day is a good one.

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Winter Wishes, Christmas Cheer, Stay Cozy, and Warmer With You sets by Gina K Designs

Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White Heavy card stock

Ink: Gina K Designs Black Onyx, Bubblegum Pink and Copic markers

Other: Shimmery Crystal Effects over the heart and snowman's hat

Winter Wishes

Hello Peeps,

I'm playing along with another winter themed challenge today. This time it's for the Inspired By Challenge where the theme is some yummy looking Winter Treats. The sketch is also interesting and I've used it as well to make my card.

The small flags are cut from a teal and lavender ink blended panel. The heat embossed snowflakes are popped up on some punched out circles. I arranged the flags on a dry embossed snowflake card front per the sketch, and added some lavender enamel dots to the tops of the flags.

For the inside of the card, I used another winter sentiment and stamped some of the snowflakes in lavender and teal.

Enjoy your Tuesday!

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Folk Art Christmas and Snowflake Kisses sets by Gina K Designs

Paper: Gina K Designs card stock

Ink: Gina K Designs

Other: My Favorite Things Flag Banner dies, SU small circle punch, Brutus Monroe white embossing powder. Gina K Designs Snowflake embossing folder and pastel enamel embellishments

Stay Cozy

 Happy Monday,

Hi Peeps. I have a card for you this morning that is inspired by two challenges. First, I'm squeaking in under the wire this morning with my card entry for the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge. Second, the theme for my card comes from this week's Mood Board Challenge at Just Us Girls. It's a nice wintry mood board with many choices for inspiration. I took the easy route and used all of the pretty trees and greens, but I added a touch of red too.

The stamp set is titled Stay Cozy, which I used for my front sentiment, and it's from Gina K. I decided to use some patterned paper for the background and horizontal element. I really need to use some of my mass accumulation more often!

Here's the inside with a deer image and another sentiment from the Stay Cozy stamp set.

I've enjoyed watching the first two days of the Australian Open matches this week.  More of the same for me later this evening and I think I'll see if I can crochet now that I'm not wearing the brace for my wrist, and I did get the okay from the Physical Therapist, which is probably the important piece, LOL.

Have a great Monday,

Colleen

Happy Birthday

Hello,

I have a bright and very colorful card for you today. The layout inspiration is from the current Sunday Stamps Challenge. I liked the three images along the bottom in the sketch and decided to use these fun flowers from Gina K.

The background is made using the Double Background Stamp 1/Grip Mat from GKD, stamped in black ink on white card stock. The flower set comes with coloring stencils, which I used with blending brushes to add color to the flowers and leaves. I used the GKD Gingham embossing folder on the black strip at the bottom, although it's hard to see the detail in this photo.

On the inside, I used another flower from the same stamp set and a greeting from a new GKD Birthday set.

Thanks for checking in,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Bold Summer Blooms set, Cheers To Another Year set, and Double Background 1/Grip Mat all Gina K Designs

Paper: Gina K Designs card stock

Ink: Gina K Designs

Other: From GKD:  Bold Summer Blooms coloring stencils, blending brushes, Single and Double Stitched dies, black enamel dots, Connect glue

Home Is Where The Heart Is

Happy Weekend Peeps,

Hope your's is off to a good start. I've gotten a couple of cards made this morning, just playing around with some new and some very old supplies, especially with this card. The embossing folder is new, the Spellbinders 3D EF for the December clubs and the first time I'm using it. The dies are very old, from Taylored Expressions. 

I decided to make a Valentine's Day card using non-traditional colors, and I quite like how the card turned out. The colors come from the new Color Hues Challenge, blue and white this time.

The greetings on both the front and the inside are from the Gina K Designs Mini set called Captured Heart. After cutting the heart doily, I decided to try stamping the sentiment along the top curve. It took a bit of finagling, but I managed to get it pretty well centered. It's heat embossed with white EP.

I've used a couple more very old Taylored Expressions doily dies on the inside with a letter image and greeting from the Captured Heart set.

I'm excited to watch the Australian Open opening day matches that start around 4:00 pm here on the Pacific Coast. Most of my evenings for the next two weeks will be spent watching tennis.

Enjoy your weekend,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Captured Hearts Mini set by Gina K Designs

Paper: Spellbinders card stock

Ink: Gina K Designs In the Navy and White craft

Other:Spellbinders Unlock My Heart 3D embossing folder, Taylored expressions doily dies and house die, Gina K Designs paper heart embellishment, Brutus Monroe white embossing powder

Birthday Balloons

Hello,

I'm playing along with LeAnne's color challenge at the Paper Players today with some stenciled balloons. This stamp, die and stencil set from Concord & 9th is called Bunch of Balloons. It's one of my "go to" birthday sets. For this card, I used another C&9th set for the front greeting, which is called Defined.

I used both the blue inks to stencil the balloons then stamped the strings with the Navy ink using an acrylic block. The sentiment is stamped with silver craft ink on Night of Navy card stock and heat embossed with silver EP. I cut it out using the corresponding dies from the set using silver card stock for the mat layer.

The card base is Night of Navy and I couldn't find my Misty Moonlight card stock, (I'm thinking it's one that I took to my mom's house), so I ink blended that layer. The balloons are cut with a SSS die. After layering everything up, I added some Concord & 9th silver embellishments.

For the inside, I used a newer Gina K birthday sentiment and a stamped balloon.

It took a while for me to figure out what I wanted to do with these colors and I'm loving how they work with these birthday balloons, and now I have another birthday card for the 2026 stash.

Hope your week's off to a good start. I start PT for my broken wrist this afternoon.

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Bunch of Balloons and Defined sets from Concord & 9th, Cheers To Another Year set from Gina K Designs

Paper: Stampin' Up Navy and white, Spellbinders silver

Ink: Stampin' Up and Lisa Horton Cloud 9 Silver

Other: Simon Says Stamp Nested Domed Arches dies, Concord & 9th silver dots, Gina K Designs silver embossing powder, 

Warm & Cozy

Happy Monday Peeps,

I just returned home from my latest orthopedic doc appointment for my broken wrist. It's 6 weeks this week since the fall and all seems to be healing as expected. I can go without the brace at home, just no lifting more than 1-2 pounds. Now it's Physical Therapy time. I'm happy to get out of the brace, just as I was happy to have the cast removed two weeks ago. As the break is my non-dominate hand, I've been able to do pretty much what I want, it just takes a little longer, and luckily that has included stamping.

Today's card I made for the current Inspired By Challenge. I used the title, Winter Knits, and the sketch, for my inspiration. Most supplies are Concord and 9th. The stamp sets are pretty old, but I like them still.

I created the background using the knit looking snowflakes from the Cozy Christmas set by stamping it diagonally, alternating with Lakefront and Tidepool inks. Per the sketch I created a panel using Sorbet and Nectar card stock and inks, stamping the word COZY for a tone on tone look. The Cozy stamp is also fro the Cozy Christmas set.

The focal images, girl and sentiment, are from the Winter Wear set. They are stamped with black ink and colored with Copics, with the sentiment heat embossed with white EP on black.

The inside is super simple with just a couple of C&9th sentiments from the mini stamp set called Lots To Say, also an oldie.

The colors are the C&9th January combination called Rosewater and includes Sorbet, Nectar, Lakefront, Tidepool and Plumberry.

Have a great week!

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Cozy Christmas, Winter Wear and Lots to Say sets by Concord & 9th

Paper: Concord & 9th

Ink: Concord & 9th, Gina K Designs White craft, Copics

Other: Concord & 9th enamel dots, Concord & 9th Hearts card front die, Brutus Monroe white embossing powder, MFT Stitched Oval die

Cherish, Dream, Live

Hello and TGIF!

It's Word Week at Just Us Girls and Elizabeth's challenge word is "Encouragement." I have no shortage of sets with really good encouragement sentiments that I could have used, and I decided to go with this Gina K Designs mini set called Wonderfully Made. I paired it with this week's Freshly Made Sketch by Amy and some retired SU DSP.

I made two cards, one in green and blue shades, and one in purple and lavender shades.

 

The inside of both cards are finished using the same sentiment and images, again from other GKD Mini sets.

Do you have any weekend plans? I'm not sure if we do. Maybe dinner or the Wine Bar with friends tonight. 

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps:Wonderfully Made, Beautiful Sketches and Little Garden Silhouettes Mini stamp sets by Gina K Designs

Paper: Gina K Designs card stock and SU DSP

Ink: Gina K Designs and Copic Markers

Other: Gina K Designs Master Layouts 3 circle dies

Love You

Happy Weekend Peeps,

Today I have another Valentine's Day card to share. This one uses inspiration from two challenges. 

It's Die Week at Just Us Girls where Elizabeth's challenge is to use a cover plate die. For my card, I've used a Spellbinders Glimmer plate, but I've used it to dry emboss the background instead of hot foiling. In addition to using the Glimmer plate, I've also used another Spellbinders die set for all of the images on the card front.. 

The second challenge is the new Color Hues challenge where Bonnie's colors are gray and red. Perfect for our VD cards.

To make the background, I first ink blended Soft Stone and Red Velvet inks onto a white panel and then ran it through my die cutting machine with the Glimmer plate, using a silicone mat for embossing. After I used a Stormy Sky ink pad to highlight the raised areas.

The die cut images are all from the Spellbinders set called A Perfect Blend, a stitching die set. The large sentiment is included in the set and after gluing in place, I went over it with some Iridescent Glossy Details to give it some sparkle.

The inside of the card is very simple with just a couple of stamped Spellbinders sentiments.

 

Thanks for checking in and have a relaxing weekend!

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Simply Said and Sentimental Greetings sets from Spellbinders

Paper: Gina K Designs

Ink: Gina K Designs

Other: Spellbinders Soft Hearted Glimmer plate and A Perfect Blend die set, blending brushes, white embroidery floss, Concord & 9th Glossy Details, Connect glue and foam squares