Stamp Off Poinsettia and Beautiful Trees Christmas

 Did you notice an "adjustment" to our Stamp Off header

above?  Susan, Buffy and I are putting our Stamp Off

Challenges on a hold for 2022.  We plan to do random

challenges, when we have time, but for now, our challenges

are ON HOLD.

Today's challenge is to post our Christmas card.  I am posting 

a couple cards, because I usually mail out a variety of different

cards for the Holiday.  The card above uses the Poinsettia Dies 

on page 165.  I used the sentiment from Snowman Season 

on page 93, cut out with the Tailored Tags.

My second card uses the Beautiful Trees Dies (page 158), with

coordinating Beauty of Earth DSP (page 130).  I used the sentiment

from the Penguin Place Stamp set, found on page 33 of the

July-Dec 2021 Mini Catalog.  I just love adding those

red cardinals, to mark the holiday!

Please click on over to check out the stunning Christmas

cards shown by Buffy and Susan.  I've received their cards

and am so impressed by their skill and artistry!!  I look forward

to future challenges with these talented and lovely

ladies,  TBA (to be announced).  I so appreciate their friendship!

Stamp Off Poinsettia Color Challenge

 Good day crafty friends!  Today, Susan, Buffy and I

have a color challenge.  Our colors for this challenge

are Fresh Freesia, Coastal Cabana and Night of Navy.

I really enjoy nontraditional Christmas colors, and this

challenge is perfect.  I used Blending Brushes to color flower

petals from the Poinsettia Dies on page 165.   I added 

Fresh Freesia flower centers.  The sentiment comes from 

the Word Wishes die set on page 166. 

I ran the card layer through the Timeworn Type 3D Embossing

Folder on page 55 of the July-Dec 2021 Mini Catalog.  I used

Blending Brushes (page 129) to add a bit of Coastal Cabana

to the edges.  I finished things off by coloring some enamel 

dots with a Night Of Navy Stampin' Blend (page 122).

I thank you for stopping by, and hope that you will

visit Buffy and Susan's blogs so that you can see

how they approached this Stamp Off Color Challenge!

Stamp Off Hand Penned Petals in Blends

 Welcome back for our Stamp Off Challenge.  Today, Susan, Buffy

and I are highlighting the Stampin' Blends, 

found on pages 122-3.

For my project, I used the Stampin' Blends in 3 different ways;

to color an image, to create a faux "DSP" strip and to 

color enamel shapes.

I stamped the flowers from Hand Penned Petals with Soft Suede

ink, and then colored them with Soft Sea Foam, So Saffron, 

Mango Melody and Granny Apple Green Stampin' Blends.  

I used the Penned Flowers Dies to cut out

the flowers and the edge of the faux DSP strip.

I cut out the sentiment from Quiet Meadow with a

Tailor Made Tags die (page 166).  I finished the card off

with some gold cord and enamel hearts colored with Blends.

Please check out the wonderful projects created by

Buffy and Susan!!  Thank for stopping by on this 

Thanksgiving week, when we have so many blessings 

in our lives.

Stamp off Nuts About Squirrels

 I'm glad to see you back for another Stamp Off Challenge

with Susan, Buffy and me!   Today, we are using our 

favorite product from the July-December 2021 Mini Catalog.

Picking product from this Mini catalog is hard, because

I like several different items.  I decided to use the Nuts About

Squirrels set on page 59.  My double Z fancy fold card format 

comes from stampwithtami.com.

I used DSP from the In Good Taste pack (page 132), because

it coordinates with a squirrel/tree theme.  I always need

get well cards, so the Nuts About Squirrels set worked

perfectly with a multi-panel card.  

I added some more

vegetation with elements from the Pierced Blooms dies.  I

felt that a get well card benefitted from some flowers.

Thanks for stopping by.  Please check out the lovely cards

offered by Buffy and Susan!  They are such talented ladies!

Stamp Off Fall Beautiful Trees

 Greetings and welcome to another Stamp Off challenge 

with Susan, Buffy and me!  This week, our challenge is

to use the Colors of Fall.

I made two cards for this challenge, and it kind of came

down to which one was easier to photograph.  When it comes

to colors of fall, you don't have to go any further than the

Beauty of the Earth Designer Series Paper (DSP) on page 130.

This DSP is so beautiful, lending itself to both fall and winter

projects.

I used the dies from Beautiful Trees on page 158, in order

to create the tree elements.  The background layer was run

through the Timeworn Type 3D Embossing folder on page 55

of the July-December 2021 Mini Catalog.  I always need

thinking of you cards, so used the sentiment from 

Simply Succulents on page 35 of the annual catalog.

Thank you so much for clicking by.  Please check out

the wonderful fall color cards created by Buffy and Susan.

Stamp Off Going in Circles

 Welcome crafty friends!  Today Susan, Buffy and I are

hosting a "Going in Circles" challenge.

For our Going in Circles challenge, I decided that I would

use the circle from the Sharing Sunshine set on page 39,

to make a circle background pattern.  It is kind of muted, because I wanted the Pierced Blooms (page 165) to show up against it.

 I used the Happy Birthday sentiment  from Penguin Place,

which was cut out and mounted with a couple of circle dies.

The curly cues are also part of the Penguin Place set.  I added

some candy dots, colored with Stampin' Blends, to

further emphasize the circle theme.

Thanks for stopping by for our Stamp Off Challenge.

Please click on over to see what Buffy and Susan 

have done with circles!!

Stamp Off Hat Builder with Hey Birthday Chick

 Welcome friends!  Today is another Stamp Off Challenge

with Susan, Buffy and I.   Today we are "Down on the farm".

We have lots of product and images to pick from for this challenge!

I have some farming folk in my lineage, so was excited to do

this challenge.  One mainstay of family farming 

was the baseball cap, to cover heads from the sun.

That led me to make a masculine birthday card, with some

farm critters (chicks) on the side.

But first I need to mention the Designer Series Paper (DSP).

This is the FREE Christmas DSP on page 8 of the 

Sale-A-Bration catalog.

The "back side" of the DSP is perfect or a variety of cards,

including this one!

I used the Hat Builder Dies on page 159 to cut out the 

baseball cap.  I stamped the chicks from the 

Hey Birthday Chick stamp set (on page 65), and then

cut them out with the coordinating Dies on page 162.

The chicks are colored with Stampin' Blends.

I also cut the Happy Birthday out of Brushed Metallic

cardstock on page 32 of the July - December catalog. 

Thank you so much for stopping by!  Now please make sure

that you check out the wonderful projects from

Buffy and Susan.

Stamp Off CASE using Beauty of Friendship

 Hey friends!  Good to see you back for our 

Stamp Off Challenge with Susan, Buffy and me.

For today's challenge, we are CASEing the Stampin Up

catalog(s).  We can select any page/card to CASE, from any

current catalog.

For my project today, I CASEd the card on catalog page 94.  

I really liked the panels of In Good Taste DSP against a 

dark background.  I layered Beautiful Trees images over this

DSP.  I cut out the Beauty of Friendship (p 11) sentiment with the

die and added some Night of Navy Baker's Twine (retired).

I think that this card works for guys, or as a 

winter or Christmas card.

Thank you for visiting.  Please pop on over to see the

brilliant cards created by Buffy and Susan!

Stamp Off Inspiration Challenge with Birthday Chick Dies

 Glad to see you stop by, for another Stamp Off Challenge

with Susan, Buffy and me.  Today, we are doing an

inspiration challenge, based on the following image.

This image offers lots of options, from using the colors,

circles, rectangles, flowers, plants, you name it.

For my inspiration card, I integrated a number of components,

including colors (I know they don't match exactly), the wall element, balcony and railings.  If you're going to have a balcony with 

railings, then a dancing goat is required.

The railing and Happy Birthday sentiment come from the

Birthday Chick dies on page 162.  I modified the fencing a bit to 

make it look more like railings. The rectangle shapes from

the Hippo and Friends Dies (page 163).   Of course the festive

goat is from the Way to Goat set on page 64, that I colored with 

Stampin' Blends and then fussy cut.

The In Good Taste DSP works great as a wall backdrop.

I'm so glad that you popped by and know that you will

enjoy the wonderful cards offered by Buffy and Susan!

Stamp Off Blended Beauty of Friendship

 Happy Stamp Off challenge day!  Today, Susan, Buffy

and me will be doing a project that uses the Stampin' Up!

Blending Brushes, found on page 129 of the catalog.

I have to say that I am in love with these Blending Brushes.

They make it so easy to create shading, without lines.  

In the above project, I used some torn paper, to

blend in the Pear Pizzazz "grass".  Then I used a piece of paper, 

that I ran through a cloud die, to blend in the sky.  I added the

"sun", by placing a post-it in position before I started blending

 the sky.

For the images, I used the Beauty of Friendship set on

page 11 (it also has coordinating dies).  After completing the 

background with the blending brushes, I stamped the tree,

then the leaves and finally some Night of Navy splatter 

in the branches.  I left space for the sentiment, which was also

inked with Night of Navy.

I hope that my card has inspired you to use your Blending Brushes.

Now it's time to click on over to Buffy and Susan's blogs

to see their wonderful projects!! 

Stamp Off Bunches of Fun

 Welcome friends, to our Friday Stamp Off challenge,

with Susan, Buffy and Me.  Kind of the "3 Amigos", which 

takes us into today's challenge.  Today, we are to use 3 of

anything... 3 colors, 3 images, 3 something!

For my 3 Amigos, I used 3 frames from the Stitched

Rectangles dies on page 165.  I wanted to include 3 windows

for the Bunches of Fun set on page 41.  I created the openings

in a piece of the Pattern Party (hostess) DSP on page 171.

I use this DSP often, because it is such bright, happy DSP.

I colored the banana with Stampin' Blends and positioned

the text and image beneath the openings with dimensionals.

I used a bit of yellow ribbon to finish off the card.

Thank you so very much for checking out my blog.

Please click on over to check out the cards created by

Buffy and Susan!

Stamp Off Hand Penned

 Welcome back to another Stamp Off Challenge, with

Susan, Buffy and me.  Today our challenge is to create

a card that does not use any dies or punches.  It's down to

fussy cutting or nothing!

I decided to use black, and a bit of a fancy fold to

add interest to my card.  Of course the Hand Penned set

on page 105 has all of the flare that you could want!  

I stamped it on Basic White and layered it on to a 

folded piece of Basic Black.  

I stamped a white piece for the inside of the card.

As you can see, my image colors were taken directly from

the beautiful Hand Penned DSP on page 131, which is the

backdrop for the image. 

I added a few candy dots that I colored with a Soft Succulent

Stampin' Blend, and a some of yellow ribbon.

Thank you for visiting me.  Please pop by Buffy and 

Susan's blogs to check out their cards!

Stamp Off Quiet Meadow with Blending

Greetings crafty friends.  Today, Susan, Buffy and I are

enjoying a Technique Challenge.

I am so happy that SU has added Blending Brushes (page 129)

to their product line.  They are so much better than sponges, at

adding layers of ink, right where you want them.  I feel that

it is a "technique" because you can create ombre effects,

or use simple stamping over shading that you have created,

as I have done in this example.

For this card,

I blended some Crumb Cake on Basic White, building

until I had just a bit of white showing.   Then I stamped the

flowers from the Quiet Meadow Stamp set (page 110),

using Early Espresso ink.   The sentiment comes from the

same set.  I added a few "splotches" of craft ink over the 

flowers, to add interest.   

The image layer and one behind were cut out 

with the Stitched Rectangles dies on page 165.  I ran the card base

thru the (retired) Subtles Embossing Folder.  Lastly, I added

a couple of Genial Gems (page 142) for some sparkle.

I know that this card is really stripped down, but I 

wanted to emphasize the blending brushes.  This is a fast

card, but the recipient will likely find it elegant.

Thanks for stopping and please pop on over to 

Buffy and Susan's blogs, to see their technique cards!

 

Stamp Off Beauty of the Earth DSP with Hey Birthday Chick

 This week Buffy, Susan and I are creating with our 

favorite DSP (Designer Series Paper).  Frankly, this is like

trying to pick your favorite child.  Generally, my favorite DSP

 is the one that I'm using at the moment, or the 

product that best gets the job done.

I figured that the Beauty of the Earth DSP on page 130,

would produce a great masculine card, made with the 

Hey Birthday Chick bundle (stamp set on page 65, dies

found on page 162).  This DSP has pages that look like wood,

clouds, grass, winter trees, fall trees, summer and so on.

It is a great accent for a variety of themes, or can be used

on it's own with your favorite sentiment.

The sentiment comes from Bunches of Fun (page 41) and cut

out with the Potted Succulent dies on page 165.  The 

Beauty of the Earth "frame" was cut out with the 

Ornate Layers dies on page 164.  I slathered the chicken

and balloon with Wink of Stella (page 128), although it

is hard to see the sparkle in this photo.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.  Now it's time to 

catch up with Buffy and Susan, showing off their

favorite DSP.

Stamp Off Hand Penned Set with Penned Flowers Dies

 Hey friends, Buffy, Susan and I are ready for the final

Stamp Off challenge for April.  Today, we are featuring our 

favorite new set from the upcoming 2021-22 Stampin' Up! Catalog

This is the Hand-Penned set on page 105 of the new

catalog.  This set comes with a brilliant set of dies, 

called Penned Flowers.  I fell in love with this bundle

the moment I saw it.  Trust me, you will see LOADS of

cards made out of this bundle.  I stamped the flowers

and leaves with the coordinating photopolymer images.

I added a couple of coordinating Genial Gems (page 144)

to accent the flowers.

The sentiment comes from the returning 

Sweet Strawberry set on page 43.  It is kind of perfect

for this bouquet of flowers.  I used a Blending Brush to

add a bit of color before I positioned the Hand-Penned image

with Stampin' Dimensionals.  Adding color behind the image

really helps to make stand out.

Thank you for stopping by, and please click on over to

check out Susan and Buffy's favorite new sets!

Stamp Off Thinking of You Inspiring Iris

 Greetings creative friends.  Susan, Buffy and I are

looking forward to sharing another Stamp Off Challenge

with you.  Today, we are making a "Get Well" or

"Thinking of You" card.

The Inspiring Iris on page 118 is one of my favorite 

retiring stamp sets.  The images are so detailed and elegant.

They are also wonderful to color with Stampin' Blends, or

you can used the set images to add color to the flowers.

I cut them out with a die from the Stitched So Sweetly die

collection and layered the images over a piece of 

Fine Art Floral DSP.  The sentiment comes from the 

Art Gallery Stamps set, cut out with the coordinating

Floral Gallery Dies.

Both the Inspiring Iris set, and Fine Art Floral DSP

are retiring, so snap them up as you are able!

Now click on over to check out the cards made by

 my sweet and talented, friends Buffy and Susan!

Stamp Off Decorative Mask Snailed It

 Susan, Buffy and I are hosting another Stamp Off

Challenge!  Today, our challenge is to use the Basic Pattern

Decorative Masks on page 146. 

I literally made 3 cards for this challenge, as I was on an

ick streak.  Sometimes, when crafting, you just can't get an idea

across the line.  Although garden slugs can be ick, a snail

from the Snailed It set (p 55) will always elevate a card!

The Snail Dies were used to create the silver foil frame and

sentiment.  The snail was colored with Stampin' Blends.

I think that you will totally enjoy the cards made by

Buffy and Susan, for our Decorative Masks Challenge! 

Stamp Off Art Gallery Color Challenge

 We've arrived at another Stamp Off Friday, with Susan,

Buffy and me.  This week, we are featuring a color challenge.

This color combo really felt boho to me.   That is why I 

selected a layer of the Golden Garden Designer

Specialty Acetate (page 33 of the Jan-June 2021 Mini).

From there, I worked to coordinate the rest of the product

with this layer.  So it was a no-brainer to use the 

Art Gallery on page 34 of this Mini.   I really didn't want to

add more to the focal image, so I indented the side of 

the card, to add the sentiment there.  I ran the Well

Written dies (page 183) over a piece of Gold Foil.

The Night of Navy background strip was run through

the Lace 3D Embossing Folder, on page 184, to

add some texture.

My only other plan was to add some Wink of Stella, but 

I have run out!!  This would have given the focal image

some sparkle, to coordinate it with the rest of the card.

Thanks for stopping by.  Please click on to see what Buffy

and Susan have done with this color challenge!

Stamp Off Snailed It Shaker Card

 Hi friends!  Welcome to another Stamp Off Challenge

with Susan, Buffy and I.  Our challenge today is to

make a shaker card.

For my shaker card, it had to feature the Snailed It stamp set

with coordinating Snail Dies on page 55 of the 

Jan-June 2021 Mini Catalog.  There is nothing happier than

a snail pulling a happy birthday banner, created with the

Art Gallery stamp set, with coordinating Floral Gallery Dies

(page 34).   I think that the Ice Cream Corner Sprinkles on 

page 49 work perfectly for a shaker card.  They don't stick

to the paper surface and rattle around quite nicely when

you shake the card.

The Sale-a-bration Oh So Ombre DSP layer was stuffed into a

Medium Clear envelop (annual catalog, page 153), along

with a collection of the Sprinkles.  Then extra envelop, hanging over the edges of the DSP was taped down on the back.

From there, I simply created the snail and colored him with 

Stampin' Blends to go with the sprinkles. I added the 

birthday banner, and attached them to the 

outside of the shaker card. 

I know that you are going to LOVE Buffy and Susan's

shaker cards, so click on their names to see their offerings.

Stamp Off Darling Donkeys

 Hello Friends and welcome to another Friday Stamp Off

Challenge with Buffy, Susan and myself.  This week,

we are featuring our favorite SAB products.

My mother is the inspiration for this card, 

because she loves crazy, funny, wacky birthday cards.

This card actually makes use of the first two FREE SAB 

items that I received;  Darling Donkeys on page 4-5 and 

Approaching Perfection on page 6.  These sets are great

individually, or you can pair them as I have done above.

I really enjoy the fact that those funny donkeys have so

many cheeky things to say.

I layered the donkey and sentiment on a piece of 

In Good Taste DSP (page 148).  The card base is 

Basic Black. 

I thank you for stopping by and know that you will

LOVE the Challenge cards offered by Buffy and Susan!