HLS CASE the Designer April Challenge

I can't believe how quickly March flew in and out of here like a breeze! It's already time for the Happy Little Stampers CASE the Designer Challenge. This month is the ever talented Joyce Mehrberg's turn to host and just look at her stunning card!

Beautiful, I know!!

Here's the card I made, based on her design:

I started by stamping the flower images from Altenew's Peony Bouquet onto my card panel. I then ran it through my die cutting machine using Blueprints #27 window panel. I then selectively colored just the framed part of the card stock using copics. I then adhered the frame to a piece of acetate and cut some fun foam using the same frame die to make the shaker part of the card. I then stamped the script background to the top windows only, using HLS Thinking Of You set. I heat embossed the large Thinking of You stamp in black so it would show up in the bottom window. I then stamped a couple of butterflies and the bee image from PTI's Flower Favorites and popped them up using pop dots.

I scattered some black, white and clear sequins into the bottom part of the window and carefully layered my framed window on top, being careful to line it up before giving it a good press to seal the sequins in.

Be sure to stop by the Happy Little Stampers blog to check out all the wonderful cards made by the design team and then join in on the fun!
You could be the winner of a $30 Gift Certificate to Happy Little Stampers!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Blessings~ Birgit

Pinterest Inspired Challenge with Marcia

It's the end of the month, that means it's time for Marcia's and my challenge posts! This month we turned to Pinterest for our inspiration, where we each choose photo's that inspire us to make a card. Here's mine:
From my "Green With Envy" board:

My card:

I started with a stitched panel cut using MFT's Blueprints #13 using white cardstock. I die cut the scale, bowl and fruit using PTI's Bowl Of Sunshine. I added a banner cut from Blueprints #27 and added some button stacks. The sentiment is from Topiary Trio from PTI.

My next card is inspired by a photo on my "Happy Mail" board:

My card:

I cut a panel of watercolor cardstock using Blueprints #13 and watercolored some background colors using Zig Clean Brush Pens. I then used the same colors and added polka dots using a Heidi Swapp stencil. After it was dry, I stamped some larger polka dots over the smaller ones, randomly. I then stamped the stitched wavy lines in black using SSS Card Making Friends. The flowers from MFT's Sketched Blooms were also stamped in black. I then die cut and stamped the little bird, envelope and music notes using My Creative Time's Tweet Me set and colored them with copics. The sentiment is also from MCT and is heat embossed in white onto a strip of black cardstock.


My last two cards are inspired from my "Color Makes Me Happy" board using this photo:


Here's my cards:


I made two cards because I started by stamping a whole piece of A2 sized cardstock using the flowers from PTI"s One Big Happy. I cut it into three strips so I still have one to play with for later on. I cut and stamped tea cups using PTI"s Tea For Two Additions. The top card uses the Stitched Daisy from My Creative Time and the bottom card uses the Gerbera Daisy from MFT.

Be sure to stop by Marcia's Blog to see her inspiration and cards.
Thanks so much for stopping by! Blessings~ Birgit

Cupcake Inspiration Challenge #348 Guest Designer

Happy Easter dear freinds! I'm here today with a card I made for the Cupcake Inspiration Challenge as this weeks Surprise Sweetie!

What a wonderful suprise and great honor it was to create a card for this challenge. Thanks so much Naki for giving me this opportunity to play along with you and your fabulous design team.

This week's fun inspiration:


Playing on the clean and simple inspiration, I started with two rectangle panels cut using MFT's Stitched Rectangles. I did a little water coloring and ink splattering on the white panel and added the sweet Stitched Bunny from Lil' Inkers Designs. I colored his bow using Copic markers. I embossed the sentiment from PTI's Easter Alleluia's in white onto a banner cut using MFT's Blueprints #27. The flowers are cut and stamped using PTI's Ruby Rose and a die cut leaf using PTI's 1940's set from Stamp A-Fair.
Be sure to hop on over to the Cupcake Inspirations blog to check out the new challenge and join in on the fun!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Blessings~ Birgit

PTI March Blog Hop

Hello friends~ I'm here with my card for PTI's March Blog Hop. Here is one of the inspiring photos:




I used PTI's Embroidered Blooms and some elements from Stitched Sentiments to make my card. Big Hugs was used for the sentiment.

Enjoy the blog hop!
Thanks so much for stopping by! Blessings~ Birgit

PTI MIM ~ Ink Blending Over Heat Embossing

It's not every Monday that I get to play along with PTI'S MIM but we got the tail end of a Nor'Easter here so I'm happy to be snowed in on a Monday! This week is Danielle's turn and she inspired us with some ink blending over heat embossing.
You can find all the details on Nichole's blog


My first card uses Tulip Time. Oh my, do I enjoy inking this set up. The color combo's are endless! I used a scripty frame from SSS for the heat embossing and blended Peacock Feather Distress Ink over the top. The tulips curve gently around this image, and it looks so elegant. I used the sentiment from Hands of Time.

While I had Hands of Time out, I thought it would be nice to try another card using the smaller clock face as my heat embossed image.

I used Abandoned Corlal for blending and heat embossed just the word "TIME" in silver.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Blessings to you~ Birgit

A Special Happy Birthday!

I'm celebrating today along with many others to wish the sweet and wonderfully talented Kim Heggins a very, very happy birthday!


Kim and cupcakes just go together.
I hope your day is filled with many blessings and this year brings you many wonderful memories, dear Kim!

This is part of a special blog hop hosted by Kylie

Thanks so much for stopping by! Blessings~ Birgit

Handmade Flowers for Dies R Us

Hello ~ I'm popping in to share this card I made for the Dies R Us Challenge where the theme is Handmade Flowers.

I haven't used these layered and rolled flowers in a really long time and thought this would be the perfect challenge to pull them out and give them some love.

I used MFT's Layered Rose, Rolled Rose and Layered Leaves. The gold frame is cut using PTI"s Deco Die Cover Plate and the sentiment is from Graceful Greetings.


I'll also be adding this card to the following challenges:
Word Art Wednesday
Use Your Stuff ~ Flowers

Thanks so much for stopping by! Blessings~ Birgit

Hippity Hoppity!

Good morning paper crafting friends~ I have a stash of vintage greeting cards and pulled out this cute Easter card from long ago, that had 4 little illustrated bunnies on it. After fussy cutting out the bunnies, I created four cards in a simple vintage style using Graphic 45 papers and some paper doilies. It's great when one old, discarded card can bring blessings to four people.


I'll be entering one of these cards into the following challenges:
Word Art Wednesday
Time Out Challenge ~ Easter
Double D Challenges ~ Easter

Thanks so much for stopping by! Blessing~ Birgit

Create Along With PTI

Playing along with PTI's Create Along With Us this week. I actually made these cards yesterday using this card from Amy Sheffer as my inspiration. I really liked the idea of making a cake on the front of a card so I went for a graduation theme since I'm going to be needing one very soon.


I used the heart border die and the pre-printed image and die from Nostalgic Notions. I die cut the star using the two smallest stars from MFT's Star Stax. I wasn't completely sold on how the heart border looked, thinking it was too busy, so I made another more CAS card using the same design.

Both of the sentiments are from PTI's For The Graduate.

I'm also adding one of these cards to the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge ~ Lucky Stars
Word Art Wednesday

Thanks so much for stopping by! Blessings~ Birgit

Quick Recovery

Good morning friends~ I'm popping on to share this card I made for the Cupcake Inpirations Challenge.
Here's their inspiration:

Here's my card:

I started by cutting a panel of Ranger water color cardstock and a panel from scrap cardstock. Using PTI's Butterfly Cover Plate, I cut a stencil from the scrap card stock. I taped the stencil over the water color panel and masked off each butterfly, adding distress inks into the images randomly. When my panel was complete with all the butterflies colored, I spritzed it lightly with water and let the colors move around. Once that was dry, I stamped over the tops of the water colored butterflies using the wing detail stamp in the same color as the butterfly. The sentiment is from MFT.

I'll also be adding this card to the following challenges:
Word Art Wednesday

Thanks so much for stopping by! Blessings~ Birgit

Cheer Up!

Happy Thursday friends~ I'm here today with a couple of card for a couple of challenges. First up, is a card using the colors from Cupcake Inspirations



I started with a Kraft card base and cut the flowers using PTI's Doodlie-Do stamp set. I heat embossed the flowers and leaves using white embossing powder and colored them in using my Zig Real Brush water colors. I layered the front panel onto a scalloped panel cut using MFT's Blueprints #20 and added an MFT sentiment that I simply framed using a copic multi-liner pen.

My next card is for the Paper Players Challenge


I used my favorite wellie boot from PTI's Green Thumb set and the small sun from Lil' Inkers. The stitched scalloped square and sentiment is from MFT.

I'll also be adding one of these cards to the following challenges:
Word Art Wednesday.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I so enjoy reading your comments and knowing you were here! Blessings~ Birgit

Greatest Blessings....

Good morning~ Color Throwdown just posted their new colors and I just happen to have a card that I just made using these colors! I love it when that happens!


I wanted to try my hand at watercoloring die cut images. The birds didn't come out like I had hoped they would, but after walking away and revisiting them later, I decided I liked the whimsical and artsy look they had so I kept moving forward with them.

I started by die cutting the birds, leaves, banner and flower out of water color cardstock, using PTI's Songbird and watercoloring each shape, except for the banner. Once dry, I stamped the leaves with an alphabet background stamp from MFT, and stamped the banner using the "Count Your Blessings" verse. I liked how they all came out except for the birds as I mentioned earlier, but in the end, I like how this card came out. It's got a bold and graphic look to it that I seem to be trending toward lately.

I'll also be adding this card to the following challenges:
Word Art Wednesday
Sisterhood of Crafters ~ using Dies or Punches

Thanks so much for stopping by ~ I sure love it when you leave me a comment so I know you were here and I can repay the visit. Blessings~ Birgit

Sponged Stamping with PTI

Hello friends~ It's Dawn McVey's turn hosting this week's MIM challenge and she's got us doing some sponged stamping.



I used Flower Favorites for this technique and I couldn't stop on just one flower... Of course I had to try it on all of them and I love how the sponge softens the inks where they blend, giving them a smooth transition in color. I even stamped the butterflies using this technique. A little more ink blending in the centers of the stitched ovals and script and stripes stamping done in the background.

Thanks so much for stopping by~ I sure love it when you leave me a comment to let me know you were here. Blessings~ Birgit

Beloved Friend

Hello~ I think I'm getting this card in just under the wire for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge going on right now. Here's the sketch:

Here's my card:


I used MFT Blueprints #20 to cut my top panel and heat embossed it in clear embossing powder using MFT's Confetti background. I created my own bouquet wrap using a stitched scalloped square from MFT and folding it to look like some of the wraps I've been seeing lately on the web. I added some flowers from PTI's "Be" set that I stamped in Mint Julep, Vintage Jadeite and New Leaf inks. I cut the heart using MFT's Blueprints #27 and tucked it in among the flowers. I added a strip of black polka dotted washi tape and the skinny banner from MFT's Blueprints #27 and stamped it using sentiments from SSS Favorite Florals. The bouquet is tied with a little bit of bakers twine with a little star charm for a finishing touch.

I'll be adding this card to the following challenges:
Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge ~ using Green, Friendship & Charm
Darnell's NBUS
Addicted To CAS ~ Gift
The Card Concept
Double D Challenges


Thanks so much for stopping by! Enjoy your journey today! ~ Birgit

Spring Is Just Around The Corner!

Happy Saturday friends~ I'm popping in real quick with a card for Darnell's NBUS challenge. The timing of this challenge couldn't be better as I just recently received my PTI order and now have lots of NBUS.

I'm seeing all kinds of beautiful cards out in blog land using these fabulous spring birds and I didn't want to miss out, so here's a couple of cards I made using this set. I did a little sponging and ink splatting in the background. I couldn't decide what colors I wanted the flowers to be so I went with both yellow and pink! You can never have too much color in the spring time...


I used the new Concord & 9th alphabet to make my own sentiment. I think I'm really going to enjoy this alphabet set but I need to practice lining and angling the letters just right. I still like how it came out though.

I'll be adding one of these cards to the following challenges:
Word Art Wednesday
Simon Says Stamp ~ Work It Wednesday
Fun Cuts ~ "N" is for Nature
The Sisterhood of Crafters ~ Think Spring

Thanks so much for stopping by! Enjoy the journey of your day! ~ Birgit

PTI ~ Make-it Monday and Other Fun Challenges

Good morning paper crafting friends~ I'm here trying to play catch up on some challenges I've been wanting to join so I hope you'll bare with me...
I'll start off with the challenge from PTI where Betsy shows us how to do ombre stenciled backgrounds. What a fun technique and oh, so colorful!

On this card I used Tim Holtz distress inks in Mustard Seed, Orange Marmalade and Abandoned Coral (my favorite color combination!). The polka dot stencil is from Heidi Swapp because I somehow missed adding the PTI stencils to my order when I placed it. The pretty flowers and sentiment is from PTI's Painted Petals. I heat embossed the sentiment in black and added some Glossy Accents to the center and dots on the two flowers.

I couldn't decide which color direction I wanted to go in with the blended background so I made a second card using Peacock Feather, Shaded Lilac and Cracked Pistachio.

I tend to have a heavy hand when it comes to blending. I try so hard to be light handed and I guess my arms are just made of lead. I can never seem to get soft colors. I'll keep trying though! On this card I used Twig Wreath and the sweet new Spring Birds from PTI. I'm in love with these birds and can't wait to play with them more!
You can find all the details about this challenge on Nichole's blog.

In the essence of trying to save time and multiple posts in one day, I have another card to share for the CASology challenge where this week's cue card is "SPIN".

On this card, I started by cutting a couple of stitched rectangles in graduated sizes and did some ink blending on the smallest one to give a foundation for my little Ellie from WPlus9's Unforgettable set. He's colored with copics and holding a little pinwheel from PTI's Quilted Summer set. The sentiment is from PTI's "BE". A bit of bakers twine is tied around the panel for texture. I stamped some black polka dots onto the second stitched rectangle and stacked them up for a CAS card. Since I used an elephant on this card, I'll also be adding it to the City Crafter Challenge ~ Elephant In The Room.

I'll also be adding one of these cards to the following challenges:
Darnell's NBUS
Word Art Wednesday
Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday
Seize the Birthday ~ Anything Goes

Thanks so much for stopping by! Blessings~ Birgit

Wearing 'O the Green

Happy St. Patrick's Day a little bit early to all who celebrate this festive day! I'm not Irish, but I do enjoy breaking out of the norm and creating something fun and green for such a day as this. In truth, I had a request for some St. Patrick's day cards so here they are. Nothing special, just lots of green!

I'll start with two vintage images I found online and printed on my home printer.


I don't have any clover stamps so I used a small heart to create my own clover that the little MFT Happy Panda is holding on to.

Again, using the same heart to create a little Irish magic!

Clean and layered and some pretty, fresh greens... Love it!
The clover was created using the smallest MFT stitched heart die.

I'll be entering one of these cards into the following challenges:
The Card Concept
Word Art Wednesday
Curtain Call

Enjoy this special day! Thanks so much for visiting~ Blessings~ Birgit