Some Masculine Cards

 I have 3 birthday cards to make for February, all of them for men.  So here's a share of 2 of them.  This first one's a CASE of a card that Hannelie made a few years ago - what a gorgeous design!

supplies: white and aqua cardstock, Altenew Watercolor Stripes stencil, Sea Shore inks, Prim Heart die used as a mask, leaves from Verve Bloom & Grow, sentment from Simon Says Stamp Joys of Spring, aqua enamel dots

And the 2nd one uses my go-to elements for masculine cards, leaves and woodgrain.

  

supplies: brown and several green cardstocks, a wood design paper, leaf dies from Tim Holtz, Neat and Tangled, and a cute little freebie from Taylored Expressions, I think, sentiment from Hero Arts Sending Love Mail and matching die, bright green embossing powder, circle die

I'm pleasantly surprised with the new update from Apple that I got back in January.  I took this picture just after our monster snowstorm and the skylight in the room I always take pictures in was completely snow covered, and thus much darker in there than usual, but the photos were amazingly bright without any tweaking!

Do you have a "recipe" for making certain kinds of cards?  

Happy Heart Day!

 It's one of my favorite days!  I have 2 cards today, a girly one and another for one of our sons.

supplies: cardstock in white, yellow, greens, and shades of lavendar and mauve, Doodlebug tone-o-tone designer paper, Spellbinders Lace Heart die, Mini Blooms & Sprigs flowers and leaves, Flower Frenzy 3D embossing folder, and sentiment and die from Floral Framed Glimmering Heart set, adhesive foam squares

After cutting out all the flowers, I bent them upwards just a bit for some dimension, then covered the heart with them.  This is in honor of my Mom, who loved these colors.

I couldn't find a card for our oldest son, so I winged it.  It couldn't be mushy, but I wanted to let him know we love him.  

supplies: red and kraft cardstock, woodplank design paper, Tammy Tutterow/Spellbinders Primitive Heart die, The Greetery Fit to Be Tied Bow die, sentiment from Simon Says Stamp Just a Love Note stamp set

I wanted to use this woodplank paper for a background, but had only some scraps of it left, so I cut those strips into squares and pieced them back into a kind of parquet design.  And I used a bit more to stamp my sentiment.  

The stamp set is from 2012, and has more tiny Valentine sentiments - such a treasure!

Hope your day is special!

Some Old Favorites for Valentines Day

 When I need to make a card and am out of ideas, I often go back through my blog looking for inspiration.  Today I thought I'd post some of my cards made with Valentine's Day in mind.  You can click on each picture and be taken back to the original post.

Hope they might help to spur your imagination if you're stuck!  I'll have a new one on the 14th to add to the collection - hope you'll come back then!

Thanks so much for visiting.

Some New Goodies!

 When I saw PTI's Build a Bouquet dies, I knew I "needed" them!  They are a wonderful set, with lots of different flowers and leaves to mix and match each time.  After constructing my bouquet, I decided to set it against this lovely Tim Holtz Doily embossing folder.  So this is a mix of something old and something new.

supplies: white, black, and colored cardstock, Tim Holtz Doily embossing folder, PTI Build a Bouquet dies, sentiment from Spellbinders, adhesive foam squares to raise bouquet

I'm getting lazy already in my "retirement"; I really did try to find the source for the sentiment die I used.  But it was in my scrap basket, and after spending about 5 minutes searching, I decided that it was probably already retired anyway, so why bother?  Whatever it is, it was just the right size!

As always, I thank you for stopping by today - hope you have a good day!

Woodblock Wednesday!

I was cleaning for Christmas, dusting the shelves that hold my woodblocks, and found this in the process.  I decided to use it for my card for the first Woodblock Wednesday of 2026.   It's a quilt stamp from PSX from 1994, labeled only with a product number, K-1305.  

supplies: red and white cardstock, PSX quilt woodblock, sentiment from (retired) Hero Arts clear Made with Love set, red ink and white embossing powder, red marker for border

This would be a sampler quilt, made for a special occasion, like a wedding, or to showcase many different blocks at one time.  

You can see more cards using woodblock stamps at Amy's blog HERE.

Cardinals in the Snow

As much as I complain about winter, one thing that is pure joy at this time of year is watching the birds at our feeders.  In the last few years it seems like there aren't as many cardinals as in past years, but when we get a snow, then they appear, almost always in pairs, and 3 or 4 pairs at a time!  They are gorgeous at this time of year, all the redder against the snow!

So I decided to make a card to recreate those times.

supplies: colored cardstock, white glitter cardstock, a snowflake embossing folder, rubbed with white ink,  Spellbnders Tweet Cardinal and branch from Sweet Birds on a Branch, Simon Says Stamp Four Seasons die and stamped Winnie & Walter Big Bold Seasons sentiment, several small snowflake dies

What's your favorite bird to see at this time of year?  I love the chickadees and woodpeckers.

SnowDrops!

Hello!  Long time no see!  How was your Christmas? 

Ours was magical!  We thoroughly enjoyed being with our kids and grands and can't wait to do it again.  They all left by New Year's Eve, and then the de-decorating took some time, but I think we're back to normal now.  It's been strange not working on cards everyday, but I've substituted some reading and doing online jigsaw puzzles.  But in my mind I've been thinking about what I'd like to make for my first card for this year.

Our weather has been all over the place since last we were together, anywhere from the frozen tundra and a decent amount of snow to balmy 60 degrees.  In years past we'd be in sunny Florida for the winter months, but those days may be no more, so I decided to find beauty in what I'm given.  

I thought these sweet little snowdrops reflected the season nicely.

supplies: white, aqua, and green cardstock, retired Honey Bee Stamps Pierced Fancy Flakes cover plate die, tumbled glass ink,  Simon Says Stamp Snowbell Bouquet and Pretty Bows dies, and a sentiment from a retired Spellbinders stamp/die set called Sending Sentiments, Audrey Blue ink

That sentiment will work for lots of occasions, I think.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Looking Back at My Favorite Cards

Every year I do a little round-up of my favorite cards from the past year - it's a good way to look back and remember. 

If you'd like details on any of these, just click on it, and you'll be taken back to its original post.  They are in chronological order, beginning last January.

This year, since I cut way back on the number of posts each month, it was much easier to choose just 1 card for each month.

Still a flower girl - too late now to change that!  Well-loved companies have disappeared, so I'm so glad I have kept all my supplies down through the years, and I intend to use them going forward, retired or not.  I can't possibly think of anything else new and exciting coming down the pike, but I'm sure that I'll be proved wrong, as this community is as vibrant and alive as it's always been!

Edited to add: Here are the Top Nine cards from IG for 2025.

Thank you so much for stopping by today.  I'm wishing you a happy, healthy, creative 2026!  See you in the New Year!

Woodlbock Wednesday

OOPS I'm a week early here!  The challenge is NEXT Wednesday, Dec 31.  I'm still sharing today, as I have a blog post scheduled for then. Sorry for the mixup this may cause!

Here's my final card for this year for Amy's Woodblock Wednesday.  I chose a lovely Memory Box one called Peace Collage and accessorized it with some Tim Holtz goodies and a new cardinal die from Simon Says Stamp.

supplies: colored cardstock, Memory Box Peace Collage, embossed in white, Tim Holtz Funky Wreath, Mini Holiday Greens, Simon Beautiful Cardinal, 3 snowflake dies

You can see more cards using woodblock stamps at Amy's blog.  They generally come on the last Wednesday of each month.

 Thanks for stopping by, and I wish you a Merry Christmas!

Bright Christmas

I really loved this month's Card Kit from Simon Says Stamp!  I ordered the stamp set almost immediately because of the 2 large linocut images, which were curated by Tim Holtz.   The kit sold out, but thankfully the stamp set will be available ongoing.  Here are 2 simple cards I made with it the day it was received, 1 for each of the linocuts in the set.

supplies: white cardstock, Bright Christmas village and sentiment stamps, VersaFine Clair Medieval Blue ink

supplies: cream parchment paper, Bright Christmas deer and sentiment stamps, VersaFine Vintage Sepia and Satin Red inks, a red enamel dot, small adhesive foam square

After watching Heidi's video that showcased the kit, I decided that I needed the coordinating dies and the little stencil set, but by then they were on waitlist.  They arrived on Friday.  Hopefully I'll find a little time to play with them before Christmas; if not, they'll be ready for next year's cards.

Are you ready?  Our house is decorated to the hilt with 50+ years of collected goodies; I just need to do a good cleaning before The Day!

Thank you for visiting.

Barn Star Wreath

I love this Barn Star Wreath designed by Annie Williams from Spellbinders!  I didn't get it until Black Friday, but it came quickly so that I could make a few things with it for this year.  First a card.  It's a lovely match with the embossing folder, don't you think?

supplies: colored cardstock and metallic silver cardstock, Spellbinders Barn Star Wreath, (retired) Adorning the Tree 3D embossing folder, Simon Says Stamp (retired) Merry die

This die set comes with all of the botanicals you see here, plus the ribbon, the star and 2 sets of different piercings.   I used the 2nd set to make the star again as an ornament in gold.

There are score lines on the star so that you can put in some hills and valleys and make this a bit more dimensional.  For the tree, I thought that the bow and holly were enough of an embellishment.  I cut a 2nd star from white and attached it behind to make it more finished, sandwiching some thread in between as a hanger.

I want to make it a little more rustic next time, foregoing the metallics.

Enjoy your day - thanks for stopping by!

An Angel for Christmas

Last year I chose these PTI Angel dies, but made ornaments with them mostly.  This year I wanted to make a card using them.

supplies: white, Cotton Candy, Mint, and gold foil cardstock, Taylored Expressions (retired) Sheet Music embossing folder, PTI Build an Angel dies, sentiment from Spellbinders Sending Joy Sentiments Betterpress plate/die set, Christmas Wreath die set, and Essential Arches die, Polished Brass glimmer foil, tiny pink pearls, adhesive foam

If you'd like to see my angels from last year, go HERE.  This is a wonderful set!  

Christmas is getting closer - are you ready?  This year, both boys and the Grands will be with us!  First time in an eon, and we are SO excited!  

Holly Concert

Today I'm CASEing a card I made back in 2013.  The retired stamps are Penny Black, one a woodblock and the other from a clear set.

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supplies: white and Schoolhouse Red cardstock, Penny Black Holly Concert woodblock, sentiment from Penny Black Joyous, small snowflake die, tumbled glass distress ink, red ink, markers

This is such a sweet image; after all these years, I'm glad to give it some love again. 

We had a sweet snowfall yesterday that really put me in the mood for Christmas!  How about you?

Thanks for visiting today!

Christmas Ribbon cards

 Here are 2 cards using Tim Holtz' Christmas Ribbon dies.  The set has 2 sizes, so I made a card with each one.  I got these because I thought they'd be great for making last-minute cards, and I was right!  So I used the larger for a landscape vieww and the smaller for a portrait one.

supplies: white, Schoolhouse Red, and 2 blue-greens cardstocks, Spellbinders Holly & Foliage 3D embossing folder, Tim Holtz/Sizzix Christmas Ribbon and Vault Seasonal Sketch dies

supplies: cream, Lipstick Red, green and kraft cardstock, Spellbinders Adorning the Tree 3D embossing folder, Tim Holtz/Sizzix Christmas Ribbon, Holiday Greens Mini, and Funky Festive bow and berries dies 

You'll be seeing more Christmas card ideas here as the month goes on; thanks so much for stopping by!