Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

 

Today I'm playing along with Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge where they are looking for Funny/Punny.  Their featured manufacturer is Riley and Company and while I do have several of their offbeat sentiments, in keeping with my NBUS resolution, I chose THREE ITEMS from my overflowing Bin of Shame for today's creation.

I purchased this trio of ghosts last fall while visiting the Enchanted Cottage in North Carolina.  I may have also picked up the stamp set there as well.  My buying is all a blur....

I began with the Distress Oxide blended background.  I added black pigment ink to a 3D embossing folder and ran it through my die cutter, basically using it as a stamp.  I stamped the spiders from the sentiment directly over top of the web.  For something a bit unexpected I made my center ghost black with white and adhered him directly to the webbed background.  The two white with black ghosties were popped up with foam squares.  The sentiment was stamped in black pigment ink and then heat embossed in clear.  

It feels great to be using my NBUS supplies, even if Halloween is months away.  (I mailed out all my entire stash of Halloween cards last fall so this is a great start to rebuilding the category.)  

Supplies:

Picket Fence - 3 Ghastly Ghosts (NBUS)

Poppystamps - Bugs and Hisses stamp set (NBUS)

Simon Says Stamp - Spooky Web 3D embossing folder (NBUS)

Thanks so much for visiting!  Your time and comments are always appreciated.

Jules

Seize the Birthday #298

 

I'm currently having a deja vu moment and I'm totally here for it.  My card today was created for today's Seize the Birthday challenge hosted by my good friend, Glenda.  She chose colors for her theme and if you follow me, you know I just used this same combination earlier in the month for Color Hues.  If I'm being honest, I love this card a bit more.  

I riffled through my NBUS bins and decided a red bicycle would be perfect for the challenge.  It is so sad that this was a 2019 purchase and it's just now seeing the light of day.  Everything on this card was cut with colored cardstocks rather than my traditional white.  The bike was easy to assemble but I did take a few liberties in the construction (the basket for example.)  The balloon dies were swiped from a scooter set, also from 2019 but not a NBUS.  I shortened the stamped birthday greeting so as to fit on my balloons.  Everything was adhered to an embossed panel of kraft cardstock and card base.  This card just makes me smile.  (Take that as...I am probably hoarding it for myself.  LOL!)

Supplies:

Spellbinders - Fun Time Cruiser ... Large Die of the Month July 2019 (sad that this is NBUS, right?)

Spellbinders - Enjoy the Ride ... Small Die of the Month May 2019 (balloons)

Spellbinders - Stylized Lattice embossing folder

Lawn Fawn - Milos ABCs alphabet stamp set

I invite you to visit our blog for more inspiration from my teammates.  Before I go I want to welcome Jenny Martin to our STB team and thank Amanda for joining us once again as our current Surprise Party Guest. 

We would love to see your card in our gallery!!! 

Thanks for visiting!

Jules

One Card - Two Challenges

 

True to my resolution I am trying to carve out time to play along with other card challenges on the web.  Today I was able to make one card that fits with two of my favorite online challenges, Just Us Girls and Inkspirational.  Another year has past that I didn't mail out Christmas cards so I'm determined to make a few throughout the year, hence this is a holiday card.  

The JUGS team has a wonderful mood board this week.  I chose the little winter cabin and the colors to set the scene for my design.

And as luck has it, the snow on the roof was all I needed to once again play along with the INKy team.

I believe this card is self explanatory.  I die cut and assembled the house and then double matted it with two pattern paper layers.  The sentiment was stamped and adhered as part of the door step.  

Supplies:

Hero Arts - Gingerbread House Fancy Die set

Spellbinders - To You and Yours stamp set 

Thanks so much for visiting!  Your time and comments are most appreciated.

Jules

Color Hues #102

 

Today I'm sharing a card made for our second Color Hues challenge of 2025.  Stef is our hostess this fortnight and she has chosen the duo of Navy and Lime.  This is such a beautiful color combination. I really should turn to it more often.  

Everything (sans cardstock) used on my card today is from Spellbinders.  The background is embossed with a 3D folder.  The focal point was cut and matted with one of my favorite die sets.  The sentiment was stamped on the upper and lower 2/3 of the oval.  The sub-sentiment was heat embossed in white onto matching navy cardstock and adhered in the center.  The florals were all die cut from matching cardstocks.  I had planned to adhere this to my standard A2 card base however the dimensions were off.  I solved this by adhering it to an A7 (5x7) base but ended up trimming off a 1/4" on the top and bottom.  It just looked more balanced this way.  (Finished card dimensions are 5" x 6.5")

And because this is the first time I've used this stamp set I'm sharing this with Darnell.  I'm guessing she's swamped this time of year.

  *Sorry, not sorry*

Supplies:

Spellbinders - Kaleidoscope Arch sentiment set

Spellbinders - Modern Oval die set

Spellbinders - Deco Holiday embossing folder

I invite you to come play along with us on the blog!!!  The overall winner of each challenge is invited to guest with us on the Color Hues blog.  

Thanks so much for your support!

Jules

Challenge Cards

 

I have two crafty resolutions for 2025.  The first is to use and empty my NBUS bins.  The second is to play along with blogs other than my current design teams challenges.  Today I'm sharing two cards.  The first one was created for the Inspirational Challenge blog and the second was made for the January Simon Says Stamp Instagram Challenge.

Up first is Inkspirational where the first challenge of 2025 is Pretty Quilts.  I am not a quilter however I think the pattern of the background die I used gives that sort of warm cozy feeling.

I chose papers from an older My Minds Eye paper pack to do some inlaid die cutting on the front panel.  I set off the die cut sentiment by adhering it to a postage die cut which I popped up on the panel with foam tape.  (The alpha letters came from my NBUS bin.  Yay me!)

Supplies:

Pigment & Co. - Mosaic Flower cover die

Unity - Postage Stamp die set

Sizzix - Alpha die set

My Mind's Eye - 6x6 designer paper pad

The prompt for the Simon Says Stamp IG challenge is White on White.  I love the look but boy was this one hard to photograph.  

 

This one is a mix of Spellbinders Brushed White cardstock along with Neenah Solar White.  The Brushed White background was embossed with a folder.  I chose to feature the debossed side of the pattern.  The floral background is double layered in Neenah while the HI is layered four times, the final layer being the Brushed White.  I added a few white pearls as adornment.  (The floral HI die set also came from my NBUS bin.  I'm on a roll baby!)

Supplies:

Spellbinders - Floral Hi die set

Spellbinders - Loops embossing folder

Honeybee Stamps - Cool Pearl stickers

And we can't forget to flood Darnell's blog with our NBUS creations! 

 

I'm hoping to juice up my creativity with some new and fun challenges.  Thanks so much for visiting!

Jules

 

Seize the Birthday #297

 

Welcome to a new year of Seize the Birthday challenges!  We are starting out with a challenge chosen by Cathy, our hostess.  This one should be very easy for most all of us.....Use Something New.

As I mentioned in my recent post, I have a whole BIN full of NBUS products.  Darnell better get ready!  (If you aren't familiar with Darnell's challenge I encourage you to check her out and upload your cards to her monthly gallery.)

I closed my eyes *wink* and pulled out this die set from Spellbinders.  I used a bunch of scrap cardstocks to create the elements and followed the design on the packaging.  The background was embossed and the sentiment is a pre-printed strip. 

Supplies:

Spellbinders - I Dance die set

Simon Says Stamp - Sentiment strip set

Spellbinders - Meandering Floral embossing folder

Trinity Stamps - pearls

I invite you all to visit our blog for more inspiration from the team.  We have Amanda as our Surprise Party Guest for the next two months.  Also joining us in today's challenge are Denise and Valerie, two of our past winners.  Play along with us in the gallery for a chance to guest with us in the future.

Thanks so much for visiting with me today!

Jules

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers #258

 

I hope the new year is treating everyone well so far.  The Sistahs are back with our first challenge of 2025.  We are encouraging you to use some of your Virgin Supplies.  Aka, NBUS.  Aka, NEW STUFF....or at least new to you.  I have a whole bin that fits that bill but today I chose this trio of nutcrackers.  (Don't you wish crafty goodies had that fresh new smell like opening up a new jar of peanut butter or brick of coffee?)

This die set is from Cottage Cutz and if you're familiar with this company you know that the dies are formed from a single piece of metal.  I love this because nothing gets lost but it can be tedious if cutting from various colors of cardstock.  For this reason I have found it easiest to cut from white cardstock and then color each element using either alcohol markers or inks.  I used dye inks from Catherine Pooler on these cuties.

I cannot lie.  These tiny nutcrackers are extremely fiddly but I enjoy the process.  I chose this sentiment from another company which I thought fit our snarky theme wonderfully.   I heat embossed it in white onto blue cardstock before dry embossing.  I also embossed the kraft cardstock and used a strip of red in between the two.  To keep my trio from floating I added a die cut platform/shadow.  I'm pretty in love with these guys and already know who the recipient will be.  I'll have to send it a few days late to make it look good.  Ha!

Supplies:

Cottage Cutz - Nutcracker die set

MFT - Squirrel! stamp set

Pink & Main - brick embossing folder

MFT - oval shadow die set

Simon Says Stamp - kaleidoscope embossing folder

We hope you'll join our month long challenge!  Snark is not required to play but it is most highly encouraged.  Thanks for visiting!

Jules

Color Hues #101

 

The Color Hues team is here to welcome you to 2025!  Our first challenge of the new year is Kraft and Red chosen for us by Sheri.  I have a whole bin of NBUS products and I resolve to use each and every one of them by spring.  (Watch out Darnell!)  

My card today uses the Shopping Cart die from Spellbinders.  Personally I like to call it My Target Cart.  And yes, I've owned it for MONTHS and am just now opening the virgin package.

I added in an accessory set to fill up my cart.  I think the bows are actually floral elements but I repurposed them for a cart full of wrapped holiday surprises.  Everything here was die cut in the colors shown.  The sentiment was heat embossed in white onto a strip of red cardstock.  

Supplies:

Spellbinders - Right Facing Shopping Cart die set

Spellbinders - Holiday and Presents die set

Spellbinders - Santa's Sippin' Sayings stamp set

Spellbinders - Stylized Lattice embossing folder

Misc 6x6 paper pads

We have Stephanie guesting with us today.  I invite you all to visit our blog for more colorful inspiration.

A wonderful 2025 is my wish for you.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Jules