Cat Lovers Hop Card 2

Today is the last day of entries for the Cat Lovers Blog Hop 
and I was able to get a second card done out of the five we could enter!

This summer a friend of mine gave me bags and bags and boxes

of card making stamps and supplies!

In one of the bags was this Magenta wood block cat stamp that

I pulled out to use along with a few scraps of paper from my scrap bags!

I created a simple birthday card as we can always use those,
in fact I used three birthday cards for grandkids just today!

I hope YOU had time to play in the Cat Lover's Hop,
lots of fun and lots of fabulous sponsor prizes to be had if you are lucky enough!!

Meowy Christmas

I haven't been at my work desk in about 3 weeks to create
anything at all, hubby and I both got sick, though we never tested I am sure it
is/was covid!!

Just to get me back 'in the mood' so to speak I decided to enter a few
'new to me' challenges!

One is the Cat Lover's Hop challenge !

Being the proud owner of SIX furry cat friends I decided this was the 'purr-fect'

place to start!

I am also entering the October Rudolph's Day challenge,
one that I have wanted to enter for quite some time but
never seem to make it in time!

And thirdly a NEW to me challenge at
Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers for their 
Falling For The Holidays linky party which ends today!

And Fourth is a new Crazy For Cats

Here is my card I created.
I used an image I already had in my stash that was colored,
I think I had put it aside as my red copics bled a bit into my
glittered hat trim, it happens I guess.
The paper is recollections, the sentiment is stamped on a Lawn Fawn
wavy die and is from Simon Says Christmas Kitties!

That's it for me today, hopefully it has 'stirred' up my mojo a bit to get me creative again!

Also entering the following challenges:
Addicted To Stamps and More .... Make Your Mark
Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday .... ATG
Simon Says Stamp ....ATG

Fall Colors

 Our new challenge theme at The Sisterhood of Crafters
was chosen by our 'sistah' Vickie and it is Fall Colors.

I hit a fabulous markdown/clearance sale at Hobbylobby
back in August and picked up this Spellbinders Pretty Pine Background big stamp
for  little bit of nothing, in fact I bought a  ton of stuff for prizes
and a few things for myself, talk about being at the right place at the right time!!

Anyhow, once stamped I easily colored it in with my Copics
added a sentiment from Honey Bee Autumn set.

If you would like to see some pretty FALL inspiration then head
on over to The Sisterhood and see all the beautiful creations from my 'sistahs'!!

Entering the following challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday .... ATG
Word Art Wednesday .... ATG

It's Zombie Season

 It's that time again for a new challenge at
Can You Handle The Pressure.
Our OPTIONAL theme is PUMPKINS!

I LOVE our embossing folder challenge!
It gives me plenty of opportunity to use my embossing folders
that for the most part have sat for ages rarely or never been used!

That is  the case with this folder
Cuttlebug Mini Monsters.
I embossed it on Cord'inations Black Magic paper.
Once I ran it thru my Gemini, I sanded it down to let the orange show thru.
I added a background paper, Gooseberry2009 (yep THAT old)
and added a Halloween sentiment strip.
I felt it need a little more 'zip' so sequins were glued on.

Make sure to head on over to
Can You Handle The Pressure
and see all the fun designs the teams have created!
Get YOUR embossing folders out and join in with us!! 

Orange and Black Challenge

Hello Friends!!
Our challenge theme at Double D is 
ORANGE & BLACK

Dar put together this fun inspiration board
but you can create anything as long as stay within our theme,

I chose the bottom right floral image for my inspiration and used a
Pink Fresh Studio Floral Focus layering stencil, then
mounted it on a black card base.
The sentiment is also Pink Fresh Studio's Rainbow sentiments.

Make sure and pop on over to Double D and see all the beautiful
inspiration from the teams, the girls DON'T disappoint!!

Entering the following challenges:

Allsorts .... Sentiment
Addicted To Stamps and More .... Stencils and/or die cuts
The Flower Challenge .... Sentiment

Christmas Peace

Today is the start of our second challenge for the month of October
at Peace On Earth
and Darlene has created this holiday mood board for inspiration!
Though we have a mood board, you can choose to use it or not
and create anything as long as it is Christmas themed! 

The main inspiration piece I focused on were all the  pretty wreaths!
After being addicted to Spellbinders Bold Blooms dies,
when I saw they released Holiday Blooms dies they jumped right in my cart!

This was another project I took with me in the summer to the lake house
and made several blooms.
I thought they would make a pretty wreath for this challenge!

I spattered gold paint on my card base (front and back) then die cut a 
twig wreath from Impression Obsession and started building my wreath.
The sentiment is a very old stamp set from  Kaisercraft.

Close up of the blooms.

The months are winding down as we get closer to Christmas,
by joining in our challenge at Peace On Earth now,
you will be that much further ahead when it comes time to mail
your cards!  Make sure to visit our challenge and see all

the amazing inspiration from our teams, they never disappoint!!

Entering the following challenges:
The Flower Challenge .... Sentiment
Word Art Wednesday .... ATG

Two Old Bats October Mid Month Reminder

 We are half way through our challenge at Two Old Bats
and Halloween is just a couple weeks away!
Do you have your Halloween cards done?
I have plenty to send our now that I have been working on
my cards ALL year thanks to our Two Old Bats Halloween challenge!
Do I feel smug?  You betcha lol!

Inspiration Board

I once again let the board inspire me,
the upper right corner to be exact!!

I die cut the wonky background using a Cottage Cutz die,
added a spider web corner die form Cherry Lyn Designs as is the spider,
I just had to add google-y eyes and the 31 was in my Halloween stash!!

If you want to see some 'spooky' delights then hop on over to
Two Old Bats Halloween challenge for a 'spook-ta-cular time!! 

Wolves

It's a new challenge theme at The Sisterhood of Crafters
and the theme has been chosen by our 'sistah' Ina
and it is a MASCULINE/ONE FOR THE BOYS challenge.

I have had this wolf stamp for ages from Coronado Island stamps
and it is a favorite of mine,
I have used it before but not for a long long time.
I think it makes the perfect masculine card along with the

plaid designer paper in the background on a gray card base.
Because it is a large stamp and on a wood block
I used a foam stamp pad underneath to stamp
and was able to get all the detail in one stamp!  

I added nothing else and let the stamp be the main show
just in the black and white/grayish tone.

Pop on over to The Sisterhood and see all the fun masculine cards from
the Design Team, join in with us too!

Monster Party

 I am playing along today at a fun new to me challenge
I discovered last month.  It is Once Upon A Time and uses
childrens books as an inspiration point.

This months book is

When my kids were growing up they were great fans of Sesame Street
so this book was a great reminder of those days when my kiddos
were small and still at home!

I used my Cricut to make my card using the print and cut feature,
making it a pretty simple card to create and is spot on with the book .
I also used papers from a paper pad  that I pulled out to use up
as there are only a few sheets left Die Cuts With A View Birthday Wishes.
If you look closely the red strip underneath is all about birthdays,
well it doesn't show up in my photo but it has
birthday greetings all over it!

Thanks for visiting here today, and I hope you check out the fun challenge at
Once Upon A Time, I think it is a clever challenge!!

Orange and Black Challenge

The challenge at Can You Handle The Pressure has an optional theme of
ORANGE AND BLACK
that you can choose to use or not.
I did use the theme and made a spooky Halloween card
with my Cuttlebug Haunted House embossing folder.

I added a glitter witch and black cat along with a few pumpkins,
it was rather difficult to photograph and the pumpkins do have
stitched lines coming up them that doesn't show. 

Take a peek over at Can You Handle The Pressure to see all the fun
inspiration there and get your EB folders out and join in with us!!

Octoberfest

At Double D for our newest challenge in October we are
celebrating 
OCTOBERFEST
meaning anything to do with October
even Halloween!
We have a fun mood board for inspiration.

I went with the Halloween side of October and stamped a newly
purchased stamp Woodware Pumpkin Flowers that was colored with Copics!
I think this is the only new Halloween stamp I purchased this year.
It appealed to me so much as it a lot going on, pumpkin, bats, spider webs and flowers!
It is a rather large stamp but the price was extremely reasonable
which you will see if you follow the link I gave.

Happy Halloween!!

Not only do I have a card for the challenge but this day of Oct 5th four years ago is a 
very memorable one for me as it is the day I lost my Mom to
breast cancer, who would think that at age 91 what would take her life
would be breast cancer?

I created this card in remembrance of  her as not a day goes by that

I don't truly miss her, so many times I have wanted to pick up
the phone and call her, we talked every single day of my life for as 
long as I can remember at least twice a day, sometimes more,
she was my best friend and I loved her so!!
I have tears in my eyes writing this, they tell you  you will get over it
but you never do, maybe the pain eases but you never do get 'over' it!
Rest In Peace Mom!

Thanks for letting me share my memory today!!

Make sure to visit the Double D Challenge and see all
the beautiful Octoberfest creations from our

fabulously talented teams!!

Oh, and don't forget we have a NEW challenge that just started
on the 4th and it's all about stenciling!!
Crazy Is Our Fame Stenciling Is Our Game

Entering the following challenges:
Addicted To Stamps And More .... Any Occasion

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday .... ATG
Little Red Wagon .... Spooky Halloween

If You Gave A Crafter A Cookie .... Halloween

Most Magical Time of The Year .... Halloween

Batty For You

 Well my BFF (Darlene) and I are at it again, we just can't leave well enough alone
and have started once more another NEW challenge blog!
It is all about stencil fun and called 

CRAZY IS OUR FAME~STENCILS ARE OUR GAME
yep, we are all about stencils!
Stencils are one of 'MY' favorite things to work with
especially the layered ones, the results are always amazing!

We are an anything goes stencil challenge with an optional theme
and this month it's Halloween Colors!

I had this background already made just waiting for its chance to debut!
I added my two bats from Photoplay and the stencil is
Pink Fresh Studio Argyle.

Entering this card into the following challenges:
If You Gave A Crafter A Cookie....Halloween (m)

Addicted To Stamps and More .... any Occasion 

Crafty Friends Challenge .... Use More then One Die (spellbinders and the bats) (m)
Crafting Happiness .... Halloween (m)

For my anything goes stencil I used another one I already had done
from Memory Box Florina 2014.  I don't think they make them anymore
and they should, I have several of theirs and love them!

How do you store your stencils?
I have a 3" deep notebook with page protectors in it and each stencil goes
in a protector, keeps them nice and flat and clean and I can just leaf
through the notebook to see what I want to use.
Problem is, it is full so now I will need a second one!!!

Take a peek at our new blog, if joining us and
when adding our link to your blog you can just use Stencil Fun
since our name is so long lol!!

Orange Plus Rainbow Color Challenge

 This month at Colorful Options our color is ORANGE.
Of course if you prefer you can always use RAINBOW colors.
Here is our mood board just to give you some inspiration!

I used the option of not only Orange but Rainbow as well.

This summer while at the lake house I took my Spellbinders
Bold Blooms dies, paper and inks with me and created an
entire garden of flowers!!

The die I used for my base is from Hero Arts Floral Border.
It's one of those dies that doesn't cut out but INTO your card stock,
I think it is so pretty!!

Here is a close up of the blooms and the die background!

I love these bold blooms and find that just as much addicting as
I do the layering stencils!

Make sure to visit the Colorful Options challenge blog and play along!!

Entering The Following Challenges :
All Sorts .... Gardner's Delight
Word Art Wednesday .... Anything Goes
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge .... ATG

Two Old Bats October Halloween Challenge

Can you believe we have had a year of fun already at Two Old Bats?
If you played along with us all year long you should have plenty of 
Halloween cards to send out!  I know I now have 24 Halloween cards
all ready to go, quite a good feeling to be that far ahead
and if you played along with us year round you have a bunch too!

We always have a fun inspiration board and it's just that,
INSPIRATION!
You can create anything as long as it IS Halloween themed! 

I find it fun to always try and use something off the board,
that's the challenge for me!
Today I used a new and never used before Papertrey Stamp set 
Boo Black Cat!

When I first saw this stamp set I just had to have it as that cat
seemed to call to me!

I inked around him with some orange and purple  Distress inks, then added the corner
spider web, the sentiment and the tiny stars and spider are all

part of the stamp set.
The background paper if you look closely has little black cats all over it,
it is an OLD 2009 Basic Grey EErie paper pad that I am trying
to use up, I'm getting close as I now only have 5 sheets left!!

Being Halloween month, why don't you join us at 
Two Old Bats
but remember we go year round!!

Entering the following challenges:
Crafting Happiness .... Halloween
NBUS .... Never Before Used Schtuff
Crafty Calendar .... Halloween
Most Magical Time of The Year .... Halloween

Simon Says Wednesday  .... Anything Goes

Yeti Christmas

A new month, a new challenge starts up at
Peace On Earth! 
We have a mood board for inspiration but you can 
create anything you want as long as it is Christmas themed!

There certainly was a lot to inspire on this board
but in the end I chose the cute Yeti!

I purchased this 'Yeti or Not' Lawn Fawn (2019)
stamp set and matching dies a couple of years ago and of course as usual
with a lot of my stamps, this is the first time I have used it!

I popped up all the yeti's and the trees.
The mountain background is from Cottage Cutz (also a first time use)

and the snowy EB folder is Tim Holtz Snowfall.

I hope you will join us at Peace On Earth, I can't wait to see
what YOU create!!

Entering The following Challenges:
ABC Christmas Challenge .... S=Snow, T=Trees
Send A Smile 4 Kids .... Holiday
Sweet Stampin .... Chirstmas In September
Most Magical Time of The Year .... Christmas

My Time To Craft .... Christmas For Kids
Simon Says Wednesday .... Anything Goes

Second Fall Season at Four Seasons

Welcome Fall!!
We are into our second month of  Fall at our Four Seasons Challenge
and have this warm and cozy mood board for you,
just for inspiration of course, you can create anything as long as it is Fall themed!

I let the top right corner inspire me with it's cozy knit throw,
the candles and the white pumpkin!

I started with a sweater knit EB folder on cream card stock
for my background, then part of a candle die cut from Cottage Cutz
keeping the card rather simple.  The sentiment was added from Picket Fence
A World of Octobers which I had to have of course since my

birthday is in October!!

It would certainly be worth your while to visit at the 
Four Seasons challenge blog and see all the 
beautiful Fall creations from my teamies!!