Cardmaking Stash Summit

I am participating in Justine Hovey's Cardmaking Stash Summit and these two cards were made using the sketches she provided. I took her advice and immediately went to my craft desk after watching one video (rather than continuing to watch others without creating anything). I tend to get lost in the 'searching for ideas' faze and then spend much more time looking for inspiration rather than actually making anything. So I was very happy I was able to create two cards right from the start!

I used leftover papers from a Simon Says Stamp card kit I bought some time ago. When I chose the flowered papers, I immediately thought of my Vintage Roses stamp set, thinking I could finally use some of the gazillion roses I stamped and saved from forever ago. Unfortunately, the pre-stamped colors did not match, so I did have to stamp new images. This set is absolutely beautiful, but it is very time consuming to line up all the layered stamps. I am so proud of myself that I decided to forgo all the layers and simplify this time. I only used three of the four layered stamps for the rose, and I purposely chose to use only that one rose so that, once I got the stamps lined up (thanks to my MISTI), I could quickly create multiples. For the leaves, I again chose a shortcut: rather than line up and stamp the individual leaves for this multi-leaf stem, I decided to just stamp the background layer and stop.

Supplies Used:

Paper: Simon Says Stamp: Sweet Birthday Stamp Kit; Altenew: Vintage Roses; TSOL: Sampler2love

Dies: Altenew: Vintage Roses; Unknown: Dotted Squares

Inks: Altenew: Mountain Mist, Coral Berry; Gina K: Blush; Stampin' Up: Pistachio Pudding; VersaMark

Other: Simon Says Stamp: White Detail Embossing Powder

Sweet Valentine

I received the new Color Cubes this past Christmas and finally tried one out. I replaced the really dark almost-black green with black, which I think makes the colors pop. The black also grounds the pinks so that it doesn't look too Shockingly Pink. I think this color combo is appropriate for my not-very-pinky youngest daughter. She actually prefers Earth Tones, but I thought those colors would be too drab for a Valentine card. 

I stamped the cupcake with Memento Ink on Neenah Solar White cardstock, then colored with Copics and Prismacolor Pencil. The hearts were inked with shades to match the Color Cube selection. I added a few hearts via a stencil and also embossed and inked the center panel. 

This card was made using Sketch #720 at Freshly Made Sketches. Love their sketches & all their designer cards!

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Simon Says Stamp: Sweet Birthday; MFT: You're the Sweetest

Dies: Simon Says Stamp: Sweet Birthday; Hero Arts: Infinity Hearts; Nestabilities Card Creator

Inks: Memento: Tuxedo Black; Distress Oxide: Kitsch Flamingo and Picked Raspberry; Distress: Fired Brick; Copics; Prismacolor Pencils

Other: Heidi Swapp hearts stencil; The Paper Studio Medium Polka Dots EF; Color Cube #393

 

More Pumpkins

 Had so much fun inking up those cute pumpkins, leaves & acorns. And I managed to use up a bit more of the excessive paper collection!

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Honey Bee: Pumpkin Patch and Thanks and Giving

Dies: Honey Bee: Pumpkin Patch; Sunny Studio: Fancy Frame Rectangles

Paper: We R Memory Keepers: Happy Campers

Ink: VersaFine: Vintage Sepia; Distress Inks

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Honey Bee: Pumpkin Patch; Stampabilities: Happy Thanksgiving

Dies: Honey Bee: Pumpkin Patch; Doodlebug Design: Borders & Edges

Paper: We R Memory Keepers: Happy Campers; Bristol

Ink: VersaFine: Vintage Sepia; Distress Inks

Pumpkin Patch FMS713

Had some fun with inking this weekend...brought out my Honey Bee Pumpkin Patch Stamps, Dies and Coordinating Stencil. At first I thought I'd only ink up a few of the various pumpkins/leaves/acorns, but in the end, I stamped and colored them all. Of course that meant I could easily make a few Thanksgiving cards, so here's the one I made for Freshly Made Sketches: 

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Honey Bee Stamps: Pumpkin Patch; Verve: So thankful 
Dies: Honey Bee Stamps: Pumpkin Patch; Sunny Studios: Fancy Frame Rectangles; MFT: Essential Stitched Sentiment Strips
Ink: VersaFine: Vintage Sepia; Distress Inks
Paper: Colorbok: Marble; Bristol

A Headstart on Christmas

 I was so excited about last year's Christmas Card Kit from Simon Says Stamp that I had to make sure to purchase it as soon as it was available even though I knew I wouldn't be able to use it in time to make cards for 2024. Well here it is SEPTEMBER 2025 already and I'm just NOW finding time to use it! Where does the time go??

I needed a design that would be easy to mass produce, and the inspiration for it was once again found at Freshly Made Sketches. I heat embossed stars using a stencil, VersaMark ink and gold embossing powder. To keep the design looking clean and classy, I also embossed the angel and the sentiment in gold. Finally, I added a few splashes of the Distress Spray that came with the kit (applied with a paintbrush).
Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Simon Says Stamp: 2024 Stained Glass Christmas Kit

Ink: VersaMark; Ranger: Distress Spritz

Other: Heidi Swapp: Spray Stencil, gold embossing powder

FMS#675

 What a great sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches! I had a few ideas for this one and they all had me using some graphic stamps. I knew when I bought them that they would be very versatile, but I haven't had the chance to really use them as much as I would have liked. So inspired by this sketch, I inked up the lines then stenciled some stars to go on top. I grabbed a red grad cap out of my stash (red is a popular school color for my family!) and then I got to use a brand-new sentiment stamp/die set for the Congrats. This card has a lot of white space and I really like how it turned out! Again, thanks much to FMS for the inspiration!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: MFT: Distressed Patterns; Simon Says Stamp: XL Greetings & Dies; North Woods Wooden Stamp (Grad Cap)
Ink: Hero Arts: Soft Granite; Memento: Tuxedo Black; Gina K: Red Hot; Copics
Other: Heidi Swapp: Spray Stencil

Donut Card for #FMS674

I fell in love with this bright and colorful paper pad and since I make a ton of birthday cards, I figured I would use it up quickly. As it usually goes with card-making supplies, it is fun to shop for them, to admire them, and store them but alas they do not get used nearly as often as I intend. Thanks to the sketch at FMS, I was able to get my creative juices flowing which resulted in multiple cards (one uses the negative of the donut circle cut out). I also wanted to point out that I do not have a huge circle die, so I had to unearth my old circular cutter that I stashed away thinking I would never use it again. I now have put it back into my regularly-used tools drawer! Thanks again to FMS for the inspiration and thanks for stopping by!

SUPPLIES USED:

Stamps: Jillibean Soup: Coffee and Donuts

Paper: TPS: Treat Yourself

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Copics

 

Wedding Azaleas

After thinking about the design for a bit, this card surprisingly came together quite quickly. Once again, I used the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches as my inspiration. Decided to make more of an elegant card this time. I used one of my favorite 6 x 6 paper pads from SEI for this one. I embossed the flowers in silver on vellum, then adhered to a dotted panel. Cut a larger panel and matted both with metallic silver paper. Then I die cut the sentiment from the metallic paper and added a few gems to finish it off. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used: 

Stamps: Power Poppy: Azalea

Paper: SEI: Couture; Metallic Silver

Ink: VersaMark; Silver EP

Dies: Spellbinders: Sentiments One and A-2 Matting Basics A & B Card Creator

Kitties & Cookies

This set from MFT was really appropriate for this week's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches. Stamped and colored the kitties with copics. Carefully fussy cut them, then arranged in a line over two strips of metallic cardstock. Die cut the hearts out of the same cardstock, stamped the sentiment and mounted on a panel of that same metallic cardstock. Entering this for Sketch Challenge #655: 

Supplies Used: 

Stamps: MFT: Chip, Chip, Hooray!

Inks: Copics, Memento: Tuxedo Black; Catherine Pooler: Pucker Up

Dies: SSS: Stacked Hearts

FMS#649

While laying low during my last episode with covid (not fun), I found a few card examples that made me want to create. The first was this eye-popping card from Wanda Cullen that was made for FMS#644. I have a similar typewriter stamp and the design looked easy enough to CASE....but before I could actually make a card, I found a second card that had another cool color combination that I had to try. And, and as usual when I just try a technique on a scrap piece of paper, I end up not wanting to toss it....I truly hope I learned my lesson: whenever I'm going to 'just experiment', I am going to use a full-size piece of paper so that I don't have to spend so much time trying to figure out how to use a pretty 'scrap'! 

I combined the inspiration from these two cards along with another fabulous sketch (FMS#649) at Freshly Made Sketches, and ended up with three coordinated cards. It is so true that it is way more effecient to make multiple cards when you have all your coordinating supplies out. Instead of having only one card after crafting for say five hours, I just spent another hour to complete two more and now I had three for those six hours spent. 
I'm grateful again to Freshly Made Sketches for providing the inspiration for me to make a clean & simple card - still a challenge for me! Thanks for stopping by!

Inspiration Card by Wanda Cullen

Inspiration Card by Jen Shults

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Honey Bee: Just My Type; Altenew: Sentiments and Quotes; Crafter's Companion: Floral Note;

Ink: Catherine Pooler: Be Mine; Distress Oxide: Picked Raspberry; Derwent Drawing Pencil: Chinese White; Memento: Tuxedo Black;

Dies: Nestablities: Scalloped Circles; Sizzix Originals: Framed Circles; MFT: Stitched Circles STAX; Sunny Studio: Fancy Frame Rectangle and Fishtail Banners; 

Other: Echo Park: Polka Dots Stencil

Paper: MFT: Sweet Celebration Paper Pad

Card for FMS Sketch #644

Made this for Sketch Challenge #644 at Freshly Made Sketches. I recently bought a card kit from Simon Says Stamp and these beautiful papers came with it. I love how easy it is to coordinate papers when they all come in the same paper pad! The roses inspired me to use an old set from Altenew - Vintage Roses. The set consists of layered stamps which are a bit of a challenge to line up....but thanks to the MISTI and a little patience, I was able to stamp several flowers and various leaves. A few months ago, I created a little swatch book of all my inks so that came in very handy when choosing all my ink colors. I usually make birthday cards, but these papers prompted me to make a thinking-of-you card which I will be sending to someone who is homebound. I'm sure it will bring a smile. Thanks to all at FMS for providing such inspiring sketches!

 

Supplies Used: 

Stamps: Altenew: Vintage Roses; Fiskars: Friendly Flowers (sentiment)

Inks: Distress Oxide: Speckled Egg; Distress: Evergreen Bough; Gina K: blush and light gold; Stampabilites: Cherry Red; Altenew: Honey Drizzle; VersaMark; Simon Says Stamp: White Detail EP;

Dies: Altenew: Vintage Roses; Sunny Studios: Fancy Frame Rectangle; MFT: A2 Stitched Rectanlges Stax

Sweet Little Lady Bugs

Made this to congratulate my nephew and his wife on their new baby girl. I needed a quick & simple card design because I have a ton of May birthday cards to make so I am pressed for time. Love the sketches at FMS, they are always so inspirational!

Supplies Used:

Paper: DCWV: the Sweet Matstack

Stamps: Altenew: Sentiments & Quotes; Stamps By Judith: Flower

Other: Cuttlebug: Swiss Dots EF; EK: Open Scallop Border Punch; Sparklensprinkle: White & Rosa Embossing Powders

Ink: Distress Oxide: Twisted Citron; Hero Arts: Unicorn; VersaMark

Get Well Card

I needed a quick little card for my father-in-law who was just admitted into the hospital. My large extended family keeps me quite busy in the card-making department, although I mostly make birthday cards. I didn't really have a game plan with this card, so I am very grateful for the inspirational sketch I found at Sketch Saturday.  This gave me a great opportunity to use several papers from one of my many 6 x 6 pads. I chose plaid, stripes and plain papers along with a journaling card. I die cut a crisp navy border and some navy and pink hearts that coordinated with the Love journaling card. I stamped the sentiment in navy and adhered everything on the card. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

Paper: Quick Quotes: Dusty Road

Stamp: Simon Says Stamp: Hand Lettered Encouragement

Ink: Memento: Paris Dusk

Dies: Edgeabilities: Classic Edges One; Hero Arts: Nesting Hearts Infinity Dies 

 

Starry Camper

Followed Sketch #595 at Freshly Made Sketches to create this card for a guy who loves to camp. I was inspired by Cindy's card entry to use a stencil for my starry background, so I also entered this card in the Anything Goes Challenge at Happy Little Stampers. I smooshed VersaMark through the star stencil then embossed the stars with silver glittery embossing powder. Found some old SU designer paper that had the perfect pattern for the teepee/tent and as a bonus, the reverse side was perfect for the trees. The Happy Camper title was cut from another piece of designer paper, though it is a little difficult to see it very well. Was going to forgo embellishments, but had a 'happy accident' with the glue, so had to cover it up. I actually like how the blue dots add a subtle coordinating touch. Thanks for stopping by!

 

Darker photo shows stars better

Supplies Used: 

Dies; Momenta: Happy Camper; Lawn Fawn: Happy Trails;

Ink: Distress Oxide; VersaMark;

Paper: Stampin' Up

Stencil: Heidi Swap: Spray Stencil;

Other: Nuvo Drops; silver embossing powder

MFT Color Challenge #212 and FMS587 Sketch Challenge

Made this card using the colors for the MFT Color Challenge. Am entering this for both that challenge and the Sketch Challenge at FMS. I stamped, colored and fussy-cut the beer stein and pretzels, then used dies to cut the circles, numbers and sentiment. The background was embossed as well as each of the circles. Please note how well the embossing matches up - this was no easy feat! Trying to figure out exactly where the embossed circles fit on the background was quite the challenge. I wish I would've planned the layout better because then I would've embossed four 4.25 x 5.5 panels, then cut one circle and use the negative to place the embossed circle on top of the background. Sigh. Next time will be easier! 

Also, I was very excited that I own the inks that matched the Color Challenge, but I only had 2 of the colors of card stock. Thankful that MFT had all the matching color card stock I needed in stock so that I could take advantage of the 40% off sale. Woo-hoo!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Funny bones by Riley & Company: Beer Stein; Stamps by Judith: Pretzel
Inks: Copics 
Dies: MFT: Cheers, Nestabilities: Circles; Concord & 9th: Double-cut Numbers Dies 

Paper: MFT: Grapesicle, Something Blue, Poppin' Pink; Unknown: Purple

Other: TPS: Medium Polka Dots EF; Glossy Accents; SNO Marker

FMS587

I started making the card for my daughter's 21st birthday by stamping a bunch of beer stein and pretzel images. I then colored them all with copics, and fussy-cut each one. I used Glossy Accents for the glass and a SNO paint pen for the foam (it bubbles up when you heat emboss it!). I then saw the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches which inspired me to use this radiant rainbow bubble paper for the background on my card.  I love the bright colors of this really fun paper pack. Thanks to FMS for the inspiration!

Supplies Used: 

Stamps: Funny bones by Riley & Company: Beer Stein; pretzel by Stamps by Judith

Inks: Copics

Paper: Brutus Monroe: Radiant rainbow; various colored cardstock

Dies: MFT: Cheers; Nestabilities: Circles; Concord & 9th: Double-cut Numbers Dies
 

Another one for #FMS571

I made another card using sketch #571 at FMS. I hope it's okay that I am submitting more than one entry - this one is more 'clean'/less busy...I am quite challenged by this design requirement, but I think I am getting closer to clean with practice! It's such a great sketch for a simple but cute design-and these sketches really help me get creative, so thanks so much to the FMS Crew for sharing them!

For this card, I chose the color scheme based on the birthday gift paper I found in my stash. I just love these little bears in the MFT stamp set and this image went goes so well with the paper! I brought the green and pink colors to the sentiment, and added some blue distress ink and a few sequins to the background to finish this card. 

Supplies Used: 

Stamps: MFT: Beary Special Birthday

Dies: MFT: Beary Special Birthday; SSS: Happy Birthday Brush Script; 

Inks: Copics; Distress Oxide: Broken China

FMS #571

I'm missing a friend who moved away recently, so I made this card to let her know that I'd really love to chat. Funny how I can't seem to find the time to pick up the phone....maybe it's because I'm too busy crafting! Adding this to the current challenge at FMS (FMS#571). 

I die cut several phone pieces using the fun and bright papers from Doodlebug Designs, stamped the cute sentiment and stenciled a few stars to match the tiny stars on the phone.  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used: 

Dies: Sizzix: Telephone & Diary; MFT: A2 Stitched Rectangle STAX

Stamps: Simon Says Stamp: Stronger Together

Ink: Distress: Spiced Marmalade; Stampin' Up: Tempting Turquoise

Paper: Doodlebug Designs: Take Note; MFT: Candied Yam

Stencil: Heidi Swap

Beary Special Birthday

I was excited to finally get to use this adorable birthday set. To begin, I headed over to Freshly Made Sketches and, as usual, found a great sketch and lots of inspiration! I based my colors on the strip of washi tape - Peacock Feathers and Blueprint Sketch were used to ink the Sprinkles using a stencil. I colored the bear/cake image with copics, then cut it out using the matching dies. I added a few extra layers to pop up the image a bit, for extra interest. The sentiment was inked with VersaMark and heat embossed with White Detail embossing powder. I used a fishtail banner die to cut the sentiment and lastly, I cut the stenciled background panel with a stitched rectangle die (which matches the stitching on the banner). Entering this in the Challenge for Freshly Made Sketch #569. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used: 

Stamps: MFT: Beary Special Birthday

Dies: MFT: Beary Special Birthday, A2 Stitched Rectangles STAX; Sunny Studio: Fancy Frames Rectangle

Ink: Copics; Distress Oxide: Peacock Feathers and Blueprint Sketch; VersaMark

Other: Washi Tape, SSS: Fine Detail White embossing powder; Altenew: Mixed Sprinkles Stencil

Autumn Camping

Entering this in the colour challenge over at Fusion. I love how the camper stamp goes so well with the Happy Campers paper pad...I am sure to be making a whole lot of camping cards for my outdoors-loving family members. The colors from the paper match almost perfectly with the Colour Challenge: Autumn Leaves at Fusion. I also used the sketch. Love all the inspiration I get at Fusion! I had a lot of fun inking up the images from the stamp set and coloring them in. I decided to use the star map for my sky background - wouldn't it be so much easier if all the constellations were so easy to identify irl? To add interest between the two halves of my circle, I cut and copic-colored a small mountain range. My husband & I have plans to buy a camper someday....can't wait to go on some fun outdoor adventures! Thanks for stopping by!

 

Supplies Used: 
Paper: We R Memory Keepers: Happy Campers 

Stamps: Lawn Fawn: Happy Trails 

Dies: Lawn Fawn: Happy Trails; Spellbinders: Sentiments One; MFT: Stitched Circles Stax 

Ink: Copics; Versafine: Vintage Sepia