Hello, my crafty friends!

Welcome to November! 🍂 This month at Colorful Options, we’re celebrating the beautiful Catrinas of Día de los Muertos and their spectacular array of colors. From brilliant pinks to fiery oranges, anything goes!

For my November creation, I wandered into my happy place—a wonderful assortment of Tim Holtz stamps, inks, paints, and tissue paper!

Layer upon layer, this little botanical beauty came together with a bit of vintage charm and plenty of grungy goodness. I combined delicate floral imagery with aged typography, warm washes of orange and peach, and touches of olive green. A little ink here, a little paint there, and some tissue paper tucked into the mix. What’s not to love?

The bold black botanical details give the softer background a little attitude, while the simple “Thanks.” sentiment adds a cheerful pop of orange.

And, of course, I couldn’t resist a few extra layers. After all, when it comes to Tim Holtz, is there really such a thing as too much texture? 😉

I love how this card turned out. A little vintage, a little eclectic, and perfectly imperfect—just the way I like it!

Now it’s your turn! 🌈

Our November Colorful Options Challenge is all about creative freedom. Choose your favorite colors, explore a new combination, or simply make something that makes you happy. Cards, mixed media, fiber arts, and everything in between are welcome!

No need to create a Catrina-themed project. We’re simply borrowing a little inspiration from their magnificent colors.

So grab your favorite supplies, make a glorious mess, and come play along!

Happy crafting!

Hey, everyone! Happy November!

You know what I love? A little weirdness. And this guy definitely understood the assignment. 😂

For this month’s Colorful Options Challenge, we’re celebrating all things colorful, inspired by the gorgeous Catrinas of Día de los Muertos. Basically, the rainbow is fair game, and I’m here for it!

I went with a vintage gentleman sporting some seriously questionable eyewear, an impressive mustache, and a whole lot of attitude.

I kept the background soft and distressed, then added pops of lime green, orange, pink, purple, and turquoise. I love how the colors give this otherwise old-fashioned guy a completely different personality.

And the sentiment?

“Be you. The world will adjust.”

Honestly, words to live by.

I think my favorite part of crafting is that there really isn’t a right way to be creative. Sometimes things turn out exactly as planned. Sometimes they take a completely different direction. Either way, that’s half the fun.

If you’ve got something colorful in mind, come hang out with us at the Colorful Options Challenge this November. Any color, any style, and plenty of room to do your own thing.

Until next time, stay colorful and stay a little weird! 💜

Hello, crafty friends!

Who says a color challenge has to be a card? Not me! 😂

For this month’s Colorful Options Challenge, I decided to combine Option #2 — Other Media with Option #5 — Earth Tone Colors and pulled out my fabric instead of my paper supplies.

This zipper pouch was made using fabric from the Tim Holtz Palette Collection. I absolutely love the vintage imagery, old maps, typography, and those wonderfully dark, grungy neutrals. The blacks, creams, browns, and muted tones were perfect for September’s earthy inspiration. 🤎🖤

And take a peek at the little patch on the right! That’s actually leather. I stamped the leather with Tim Holtz stamps to create my own embellishment. It’s a small detail, but I think it gives the pouch that extra little something.

The photo really doesn’t do this one justice, so I’ll be posting a video later this afternoon to give you a better look at the fabric, details, and the finished pouch.

Paper, fabric, leather… if I can put a Tim Holtz stamp on it, apparently I’m going to try. 😂

I hope this inspires you to think outside the card and try Other Media for this month’s challenge!

Have a colorful day!

Hello, crafty friends!

Sometimes you need a card now—and this is one of those designs that comes together fast but still has plenty of personality.

For this clean & simple thank-you card, I started with a vintage-style background and added that wonderfully oversized THANK YOU SO MUCH sentiment. I love how the bold lettering does most of the work here. No need to overthink it!

A little Tim Holtz ephemera gentleman was all it needed to finish the design. I tucked him along the edge so he looks like he just wandered in from another era to deliver the message himself. 😂

The warm, distressed browns and aged-paper tones also fit perfectly with September’s Rusty Brown inspiration at the Colorful Options Challenge. 🍂🤎

This is definitely one of those quick, easy, and done cards—perfect when you need a handmade thank-you but don’t have an afternoon to make one.

Sometimes simple really is enough.

Have a colorful day!

Hi crafty friends!

September’s Colorful Options Challenge is all about rusty brown and warm earth tones, and I was definitely into this color palette. 🤎🍂

The inspiration board has so many fun directions to take it—coffee, dried flowers, old paper, warm wood, fall florals, and all those rusty vintage colors. I decided to lean into the old paper + vintage side of things.

For my card, I pulled out my Tim Holtz supplies and built everything around this old-fashioned typewriter. I kept the background really dark and distressed, then added the warm rusty browns, faded pinks, and golden tones to give it that worn, slightly grungy look.

And because apparently the typewriter had something important to say… HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 😂

I love how the softer colors pop against the almost-black background while still fitting into the earthy September palette.

Everything I used for this card is Tim Holtz, which made mixing all the different textures and vintage elements super easy.

Hope you’ll come play along with us at Colorful Options this month! You can create something inspired by rusty brown, pull colors or ideas from the inspiration board, or go completely rogue and use a rainbow. 🌈

Happy crafting!

Hi, friends!

It’s time for another Colorful Options Challenge, and this month I created a card using Options #2 and #4 from the inspiration board. Green has always been one of those colors that feels calming to me, so this challenge was an easy one to fall in love with.

For this card, I wanted to keep the design fairly simple while letting texture do most of the work. I created a mixed media background with layers of green and yellow, then added this beautiful intricate tree die cut over the top. I love how all of the tiny heart-shaped openings are hidden throughout the branches—it gives the tree so much personality without needing a lot of extra embellishments.

At the base of the tree, I tucked in a sleeping little fox. There’s just something peaceful about it. It reminds me that even when life gets busy, it’s okay to slow down and find a quiet place to rest.

One of my favorite things about creating is that every project starts with a pile of supplies and somehow ends up telling a story. This one feels like a quiet afternoon in the woods, where the sun filters through the leaves and everything seems just a little more peaceful.

Thank you so much for stopping by today! Be sure to visit the Colorful Options Challenge to see what the rest of the design team created, and I hope you’ll join us this month. I can’t wait to see how you interpret the inspiration board! 🌿💚

I’m back with another project for this month’s Colorful Options Challenge! This time I used Options #2 and #5—creating a bag inspired by the colors from the inspiration board.

Instead of making a card, I decided to spend some time at my sewing machine. I’ve always loved sewing, and this little zippered bag was a good project for the alternate palette.

The star of the bag is, of course, Eevee! I printed the artwork on my home printer onto fabric before piecing together the rest of the bag with coordinating prints in soft greens, creams, and warm golds. After everything was assembled, I quilted the bag to give it texture and durability. I love how the stitching adds another layer of interest without taking away from the sweet focal image.

And can we talk about the zipper pull? My favorite part has to be the tiny Eevee charm! It was the perfect finishing touch and makes me smile every time I pick up the bag. Sometimes it’s those little details that make a handmade project feel extra special.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you’ll head over to the Colorful Options Challenge and see all the wonderful inspiration from the design team. I can’t wait to see what you create this month!

Hello, crafty friends!

It’s time for a new Colorful Options Challenge, and this month I played along using Options #2 and #4—creating a card while drawing my inspiration from the supporting colors on the inspiration board.

For this project, I wanted a well-traveled, collected-over-time feel. I reached for my Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements & Craft Stock Warm papers. The mix of old maps, botanical illustrations, typography, tickets, and postage imagery makes it so easy to build layers that look like they’ve been gathered from years of adventures.

I used the Waffle Flower Postage Collage Dies to cut and help design the arrangement for the cut stamps.

I hope this card inspires you to look through your favorite paper collections and mix together bits and pieces you may not have thought to combine before. Vintage papers are especially fun because no two collages ever turn out quite the same.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you’ll join us over at the Colorful Options Challenge this month. I can’t wait to see what you create!

One of the things I love most about the Colorful Options Challenge is that there are so many ways to interpret the monthly inspiration. For my first project, I embraced all three colors in this month’s red, white, and blue palette. This time, I decided to do something completely different.

I chose to focus on red and took a break from paper crafting for a little sewing fun!

This adorable Logi Pouch features a cheerful print of classic mouse silhouettes scattered across a bright red background. It’s a simple project that’s perfect for holding craft supplies, notions, pens, makeup, or all those little treasures that seem to disappear into the bottom of a larger bag.

I love that the Colorful Options Challenge encourages creativity without boxing us into a single interpretation. By selecting only one color from the inspiration board, this project fits Option #2, while the sewing aspect lets me explore Option #5, proving that the challenge isn’t limited to cards or paper crafts.

As someone who enjoys many different creative hobbies, it’s always refreshing to switch mediums. Trading ink pads and stamps for fabric and a sewing machine reminds me that creativity isn’t about the supplies we use—it’s about making something that brings us joy.

Whether you’re inspired by the entire palette or just one color, I hope you’ll join us this month and share your own interpretation. There are so many possibilities, and that’s what makes this challenge so much fun!

Happy crafting (and happy stitching)!

Makira