Love You

 Happy Monday,

My last Valentine's Day card for 2026, inspired by the current Color Hues challenge of Red and Pink.

I'm using various shades of Concord & 9th reds and pinks card stock with the Concord & 9th Wavy Card Front die. This took several passes of this die to get all of the in-laid pieces and the white frame. After getting all of the pieces  in place I then removed them to run through a Spellbinders heart embossing folder for a little added dimension.

The large die cut sentiment is also from Concord & 9th.

Here's the inside of this card.

Enjoy your week!

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: You Are the Best Sentiments set by Concord & 9th

Paper: Concord & 9th card stock

Ink: Concord & 9th

Other: Concord & 9th Wavy Card Front die, All the Love set dies, Spellbinders Tiny Heart Scalloped 3D embossing folder

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

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

Hope Your Birthday Is On Point

Happy Hump Day Peeps,

The Color Hues colors this time are orange and green, perfect for fall and pumpkin themed creations. I took a bit of a different direction with my card, however.

This is a mini stamp set from Gina K. I paired it with her Basket Weave card front die and some Lawn Fawn patterned papers to create a birthday card. I have many friends and family who have birthdays in the fall and winter, so I'm happy to add another birthday card to my stash.

The stamp set comes with four cactus images. I used three of them on the front of the card and the fourth on the inside here.

Have a great day!

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Stuck On You and So Many Sentiments sets by Gina K Designs

Paper: Gina K Designs card stock and Lawn Fawn patterned paper

Ink: Gina K Designs and Copics

Other: Basket Weave Cover Plate and Master Layout 2 dies by Gina K Designs, MFT Circle dies, Brutus Monroe Alabaster embossing powder

Birds and Butterflies in Red and Blue

TGIF Peeps,

The current Color Hues challenge is red and blue. Initially, I had pulled out some of the recent nautical dies from my Spellbinders collection to use, but then totally switched gears. I was looking through my stencils and embossing folders for a background and ran across an older Taylored Expessions stencil that makes four card fronts at once, with images of birds, flowers and butterflies. I decided to see how they looked in red and blue. The colors may be a little unexpected for these images, but I kind of like how they turned out.

The TE stencil set came with some pre-printed strip sentiments. I hot foiled them with some red foil to use on the cards then added some embellishments to each card. 

Enjoy your weekend,

Colleen

Supplies

Fit and Flutter Bundle by Taylored Expressions includes layering stencils, dies, strip sentiments

Paper: Gina K Designs

Ink: Gina K Designs

Other: Taylored Expressions Burlap embossing folder, Gina K Designs Master Layouts 2 dies, Fuse Foiling System, Red Velvet hot foil, misc embellishments

Happy Birthday To You!

 TGIF Peeps,

I've been lazy this morning, scrolling through IG posts of my favorite crafts. It's dangerous because it makes me spend $$$, LOL, but SO MANY great ideas.

Yesterday afternoon, I played around with shapes for this card inspired by Bonnie's Yellow and Green challenge for Color Hues. This card is CASE'D from Spellbinders Modern Botanicals Collection and Bonnie Carollee. I don't have any of the Spellbinders supplies, but I managed to combine from mine to make this card. I kind of love it!

I used three sizes of circle masks and various stencils from Gina K., MFT, Paper Smooches and Honey Bee. The ink colors I used are Gina K. Wild Dandelion and Lucky Clover. 

To make the branch, I first foiled a piece of Gina K. Polyglaze with Lucky Clover foil, let it cool well (that's the secret) and pulled off the top clear layer. I then cut out the branch, which is the SSS Tattered Leaves die. I cut two more from scrap card stock and glued the three layers together for dimension. 

The greeting is pre-printed Polyglaze from Gina K. I foiled it with Wild Dandelion foil and cut it out with its corresponding die. Finally, I added the three harlequin diamonds from the MFT stencil next to the top and bottom circles, then some green and yellow sequins for added sparkle.

Here's the inside of this card, which uses images from the Gina K. set called Gentle Silhouettes. I really like the sentiment and I've used it many times.

I hope you enjoy the weekend.

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Gina K Designs Gentle Silhouettes set

Paper: Gina K Designs White Layering and Wild Dandelion card stock and black Polyglaze sheets

Ink: Gina K Designs Wild Dandelion and Lucky Clover

Other: Gina K Designs Deco foils in Wild Dandelion and Lucky Clover, Master Layouts 12 dies, Graceful Greetings Polyglaze sentiments and corresponding die, Fuze Foiling Machine. Circle masks, Stencils from My Favorite Things, Honey Bee, Gina K Designs, and Paper Smooches, Simon Says Stamp Tattered Leaves die, SSS sequins

A Patchwork of Happiness

 Hello,

When I saw the IG peeks for Waffle Flower's June release, I knew that I'd be buying several. Especially the sewing/quilting related stencils, stamps and dies. I may have grabbed some of the beach related ones as well, LOL. Those will show up at some point here on my blog.

I spent a whole afternoon earlier this week playing with the quilt stencils, and boy, were they fun. I used the current Color Hues challenge colors of Peach and Cobalt blue for this card, using the Patchwork Cat Stencil pack and greetings from the Quilted Hug Sentiments stamp set.

After the stenciling was completed I used a Concord & 9th stitched card front die to add the "quilting." The embossed sentiment is popped up over a spool of thread that goes with the sewing machine from the Sew Fun dies.

For the inside of this card I used another of the Quilted Hug birthday sentiments and a small pin cushion stamp.

I've actually been doing some quilting lately so these stencils, dies and stamps really caught my eye. So fun!

Enjoy your Thursday!

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Quilted Hug Sentiments by Waffle Flower

Paper: Gina K Designs Layering Weight White and Spellbinders blue card stock

Ink: Gina K designs and Simon Says Stamp

Other: Waffle Flower Patchwork Cat Stencils and Sew Fun Dies, Concord & 9th Stitched Card Front, Brutus Monroe Alabaster embossing powder

Dive Into Happiness

 Hello,

Well, I'm finally feeling better, just a little lingering cough left. The best part is my energy has returned so I spent more time creating today instead of sitting around a reading.

I wanted to get a card made for the current Color Hues challenge, where Marcia has a summery color duo of blue and yellow. I pulled out some Spellbinders stencils and sentiments and combined them with some Lawn Fawn dies to make this "looking forward to summer" card.

After putting the pool over the stenciled background, I thought the card needed a little something, so I added the silhouette palm trees, which led to the heat embossed sentiment on black. 

For the inside of the card, I used the same beach ball stencil and another summer sentiment.

I hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Typewriter Adventure Sentiments set by Spellbinders

Paper: Gina K Designs card stock

Ink: Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Saturated inks, Gina K Designs embossing ink

Other: Summertime Graphics and Summertime Spray stencils by Spellbinders, Stitched Pond and Palm Trees dies by Lawn Fawn, Brutus Munroe Alabaster embossing powder, heat tool, blending brushes, Concord & 9th yellow enamel dots

Retro Bowls: No One Stacks Up To You

Hello,

It's a lazy Sunday morning here. I've been watching crocheting videos looking for a new project, and I sometimes get lost in the videos, going from one to the next, and then it's two hours wasted. 

Yesterday evening I noticed that the new Color Hues challenge was up. Carol is hostess and her color choices are green and white. Great for March, great for shamrocks, but I decided greens would be perfect for these retro bowls, a new-ish set from Concord & 9th. Also, green is my favorite color, so there's that.

I'm using all Concord & 9th card stocks, three green shades and white.

When I pulled out my pack of Lemongrass card stock, I already had this card front die cut. I glued it to a white card base and then cut the bowls and flower dies from white, Avocado and Artichoke. I stacked the flowers x2 for a little extra dimension and also used the alternate green for the centers. The sentiment is from the same set, cut with a banner die from a different C&9th set.

My aunt is turning 92 later this week and so I made this into a birthday card to mail to her. These birthday images are from C&9th too, yet another set.

I hope you have a relaxing Sunday!

Colleen

Supplies

Stamp and Die sets: Kitchen Classics, Celebrate You and On My Mind all from Concord & 9th

Paper: Concord & 9th card stock: White, Lemongrass, Avocado and Artichoke

Ink: Concord & 9th Lemongrass and Artichoke

Other: Concord & 9th Lattice Corner Die Cut, Gina K Designs white paper hearts, Connect Liquid glue, SU Dimensionals

 

Love You

Hi and Happy New Year Crafty Friends!

I'm happy to see the challenge blogs are starting their new challenges for 2025 this week and I'm ready to play along. I managed to make a card that works for three of them. I'm using the colors from Color Hues, Red and Kraft, the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches, and the Just Us Girls die cut challenge. 

Since the next card making holiday is Valentine's Day, I'm getting started on my V Day stash.

The stitched letter dies for Love, the You die, and the Strawberry dies are all from Spellbinders, as is the embossing folder. The Stitched square die and the tiny hearts on the strawberries are from GKD.

The word "love" is stitched with red floss but the word "you" is faux stitching that I used a white get pen over. I thought the faux stitching would stand out better. I cut the strawberry elements from white card stock and ink blended the colors for a softer look.

The inside is very simple with just a couple of stamped images, also from Spellbinders.

Wishing everyone a great week. If you're in those blizzard areas, stay warm and safe. We are sunny and dry here in SoCal.

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Forever Yours set from Spellbinders

Paper: Gina K Designs Kraft and Layering Weight white card stock, SU Real Red card stock and SU kraft heart DSP

Ink: Gina K Designs

Other: Heart Swag EF, Stitched Love die set, and Faux Stitched Sentiments die set, 2023 Advent Calendar dies from Spellbinders, Double stitched square die and tiny heart embellishments from Gina K Designs, white gel pen, red embroidery floss

A Birthday Wish For You

Happy Hump Day Peeps,

I've been finishing up Halloween/Fall cards so could get them in the mail. I also had some birthday cards to make for friends (twins) who have their birthday on 10/31. Once I finished those, I decided to see what I could do with the current Color Hues challenge colors. 

I decided I was in the mood for some stitching and pulled out the Lawn Fawn embroidery hoop dies that I have.. Here's the finished card. It's a traditional gatefold style card.

The background 3D embossing folder is from Simon Says Stamp and it sure has great detail. Before running the card stock through, I spritzed it on both sides with a small amount of water. After, I used the same shade of Mustard ink as the card stock to highlight some of the raised areas, then trimmed the panels to fit the front of the gatefold.

Here is another picture of the card front and then the inside.

All of the birthday sentiments are from Gina K Designs.

Thanks for stopping in,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Gina K Designs

Paper: SU More Mustard and Old Olive, Gina K Designs Silver

Ink: Gina K Designs Black Onyx and SU More Mustard

Other: SSS 3D embossing folder, Lawn Fawn Flower Embroidery Hoop die, SU button, Gold floss, SU enamel dots, Gina K Designs Master Layouts 1 dies, SU Dimensionals, Connect glue