Tag Archives: cardmaking

Whiskers & Wicked Light

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Hello, crafty friends! šŸāœØ

This monthā€™s inspiration takes us straight into the heart of the DĆ­a de los Muertos festivities. The board is alive with bold colors, vibrant papel picado, sugar skulls, festive dancers, and the warm glow of candles. I wanted my project to capture that magical mix of tradition, celebration, and just a touch of spooky charm.

For my make, I chose to feature one of my favorite October pairings: a curious black cat and a glowing jack-oā€™-lantern ā€” all hand-drawn with colored pencils on rich grey cardstock. The soft pencil strokes bring the kitty to life as it peeks over the pumpkin, bathed in that eerie green glow we all love during Halloween. Behind them, I sketched a pattern of mischievous jack-oā€™-lantern faces to keep things playful yet just a little haunting.

The drawing is framed with layered cardstock in deep charcoal, fiery orange, and brick red, echoing the warmth of an autumn night and making the pumpkinā€™s glow stand out even more.

Why not venture over to the challenges:Ā  Park Hopping My Happy Place and check out the amazing creations from the talentedĀ design team members.

I hope you enjoy this design, and be sure to join in on the fun for theĀ Park Hopping My Happy Place.

šŸ’€šŸŒøšŸŽ‰Makira

Hawaii Day 2025

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Hey everyone! Colorful Options is celebrating Hawaii Day!

I have created a card and envelope as my design team contribution.

Over at the Colorful Options Challenge, play along with the colors of our Hawaii Day Inspiration Board, or choose a color from the monthly challenge that you enjoy, or blend the two together. So many Options!!!

This challenge will run alongside our regular monthly challenge from Sunday 8/10 through Saturday 8/16.  

Make sure you join in on the blog or on Instagram for your chance to win a gift certificate of your choice (Simon Says Stamp, Scrapbook.com, or Amazon). Visit the challenge to check out the amazing creations from the talented Design Team. You canā€™t win without entering! Come join the fun!!

I did add a few items to this set to make a mail mix. My thought is to send a “bouquet in an envelope” to help spread a little cheer. The tuck-ins include a floral post card, a cheery blossoms cachet, a packet of forget-me-nots, and a flowering butterfly.

Wishing all the entrants good luck! Have fun, everyone!

A Steampunk August

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Happy Saturday, everyone! I’m delighted to share a fun steampunk-style card. This card is my design team contribution to the Colorful Options Challenge. For this month, I’ve embraced neutrals with a bit of a dusty green.

Remember, Colorful Options is all about color challenges. While the current theme centers on a books and library vibes, you’re free to explore any color or combination that resonates with you from the inspiration board above. Pick a color or combo of colors, make them the star, and join in the creative fun! If this muted palette isn’t your thing, play along with a rainbow-inspired make instead.

My card is a combination of Tim Holtz & Merimi Small Art ephemera and images. Some simple collaging with a bit of color pencil enhancement to “hide” some of the edges.

I hope you enjoy this design, and be sure to join in on the fun for the Colorful Options Challenge!

Christmas in July, A Great Start

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Happy Tuesday, everyone! I’m delighted to share a festive Christmas card featuring the beautiful Waffleflower stamp die-cut. This card is my design team contribution to the Colorful Options Challenge and Park Hopping My Happy Place. For this month, I’ve embraced the classic colors of red and green. There’s something about this palette that instantly brings Christmas to mind!

Remember, Colorful Options is all about color challenges. While the current theme centers on a picnic, you’re free to explore any color or combination that resonates with you from the inspiration board below. Pick a color or combo of colors, make them the star, and join in the creative fun!

Why not venture over to the challenges:Ā Colorful Options ChallengeĀ  & Park Hopping My Happy Place and check out the amazing creations from the talentedĀ design team members.

This design is part of a mail mix I made. Thought I’d include it for some additional inspiration.

This design was a quick and easy make, and Iā€™m excited to share it with you!

The Card:
I started with Bristol Smooth cardstock and cut it out with the Waffleflower die. I then did some masking & stamping with a Sassy Club stamp set. Then I pulled out the Copic collection & began coloring. For the background, I added a gold gel pen and a white pencil for interest. Then, varying postage stamps were stamped over everything. I used Tim Holtz’s Christmas Postage (Stampers Anonymous CMS323) & an assortment of Waffleflower postage marks. A little red and white border was added before placing it on the green card base.

The Envelope:
For the envelope, I used a digital layout and then brought it to life with a little ink, scoring & cutting.

Fun ā€œTuck-Insā€:
I added a few playful ā€œtuck-insā€ with the set: a gift card and three stamps. These were downloaded from Etsy and modified to fit the desired size. I printed them on clear sticker paper, then used my Cricut to cut them out. Despite the added elements, the total weight of the package remains under 3 oz, so it will only require double postage to send.

I hope you enjoy this design, and be sure to join in on the fun for the Colorful Options Challenge!

This is the Way – May 2025

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Hey everyone! Welcome back to another month of exciting challenges!

For the Park Hopping My Happy Place challenge, I have created a card and envelope set for you to enjoy. I’m back to working with some very simple mixed media. Stencils, paint, foundry wax — and then… some fun.

The buttons, trading card, and sticker are “tuck-ins” for this set. Do you like to add any “extras” when you send cards? Let me know in the comments below. šŸ˜

This month, we are excited to announce a collaboration between the Colorful Options Challenge and the Park Hopping My Happy Place Challenge! If the current monthā€™s theme isn’t your style, don’t worry! You have the freedom to select any theme inspired by theme parks.

Remember, Park Hopping My Happy Place embraces an anything-goes philosophy, which means you can draw from a wide range of inspirations beyond just the inspiration of the month; the inspiration photo serves solely as a launching point. For those seeking further inspiration, check out the inspiration page for more ideas, themes, and IPs.

Make sure you join in on the blog or on Instagram for your chance to win a gift certificate of your choice (Simon Says Stamp, Scrapbook.com, or Amazon). Visit the challenge to check out the amazing creations from the talented Design Team. You canā€™t win without entering! Come join the fun!!

At Park Hopping My Happy Place, you have until Saturday, May 31st, 12:00noon US CST time, which translates to 6:00am on Sunday, June 1st in the UK or 7:00am on Sunday, June 1st in CET.

If youā€™re looking to recreate this set, hereā€™s what youā€™ll need:

Wishing all the entrants good luck! Have fun, everyone!

Pi Day 2025

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Hey everyone! Colorful Options is celebrating Pi Day!

I have created a group of small gift cards with envelopes for this challenge.

Over at the Colorful Options Challenge, play along with the colors of our Pi Day Inspiration Board, or choose a color from a pie that you enjoy!Ā 

This challenge will run alongside our regular monthly challenge from Pi Day Friday 3.14 through Thursday 3.20.  

Make sure you join in on theĀ blogĀ or on Instagram for your chance to win a gift certificate of your choice (Simon Says Stamp, Scrapbook.com, or Amazon).Ā Visit the challengeĀ to check out the amazing creations from the talented Design Team. You canā€™t win without entering! Come join the fun!!

If youā€™re looking to recreate these cards, hereā€™s what youā€™ll need:

  • Papers: Arteza water color paper, White White by Fabriano, copy paper for the envelopes
  • Distress Sprays in Lumberjack Red, Picked Raspberry, Saltwater Taffy
  • Distress Mica Stain in Fortune Teller
  • Distress Spritz in Picked Raspberry
  • Stencils from my stash
  • Hero Arts White embossing powder
  • Distress Embossing Ink
  • Gina K flower stamps
  • embellishments: charms, Kreinek thread, eyelets

Wishing all the entrants good luck! Have fun, everyone!

March 2025

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Hey everyone! Welcome back to another month of exciting challenges!

I have created a palette of rainbow cards for you to enjoy this month. I’m back to working some very simple mixed media today.

Over at the Colorful Options Challenge, there’s a stunning photo inspiration board celebrating the color green. If this month’s color isn’t your style, join me with a rainbow-inspired project instead.

Make sure you join in on the blog or on Instagram for your chance to win a gift certificate of your choice (Simon Says Stamp, Scrapbook.com, or Amazon). Visit the challenge to check out the amazing creations from the talented Design Team. You canā€™t win without entering! Come join the fun!!

You have until Friday, March 28th, 11:59pm US CST time, which translates to 5:59am on Saturday, March 29th in the UK or 6:59am on Saturday, March 29th in CET.

If youā€™re looking to recreate this card, hereā€™s what youā€™ll need:

  • Papers: Arteza water color paper, colored paper & vellum from the stash
  • Distress Watercolor Pencils
  • Liquitex Ivor Black
  • Sizzix Dies Shadowscript #2
  • Tim Holtz Ideology Small Talk
  • Tim Holtz Sizzix 3D embossing folder Texture Fades

Wishing all the entrants good luck! Have fun, everyone!

Merry Belated Christmas

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Happy Sunday, everyone! I am excited to share a single layer card with you today. For me, it’s almost CAS. šŸ˜šŸ˜‚ Perhaps not CAS for most, but for me, a single layer card is as close as I get these days. I hope you like it as much as I do.

This card draws inspiration from Tim Holtz’s 2024 Stampersanonymous Halloween. Many of the makers used alcohol ink backgrounds and then added stamps and pastes over the top of the backgrounds.

If youā€™re looking to recreate this card, hereā€™s what youā€™ll need:

Begin by trimming a piece of yupo paper to 5″x7″. Apply a mix of alcohol inks and mixative until youā€™re happy with the backgroundā€™s look. Set it aside to dry completely. Next, stamp the focal images diagonally across the paper with black ink. Arrange the other stamps and apply a second-generation stamping with them using the same ink. Using a fan brush and blue-gold water colors, splatter gold accents over the card front. Allow this to dry thoroughly; this dry time may take 12+ hours for complete drying. To finish, cut a black base along with two mattesā€”one in black and one in gold. Layer everything together and you’re ready for Christmas 2025.

Challenges entered:

Thank You So Much

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Happy Sunday, crafters! Iā€™m excited to share two Clean and Simple (CAS) cards with you today. This idea has been floating around in my mind for a while, and I finally had the chance to bring it to life this morning. I hope you enjoy these creations as much as I enjoyed making them!

With the holiday season quickly approaching, having a few thank you cards in the stash is always a good idea.

If youā€™re looking to recreate this card, hereā€™s what youā€™ll need:

Happy Crafting!

Challenges entered:

Winter Wishes

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Happy November, crafters! Say hello to Walter! He sits on top of a coffee cup, bringing the joy of a gift card to someone this year.

For this festive card, I combined Tim Holtz and Lawn Fawn. I thought they married fairly well for this card. What do you think? Can you find my obvious mistake? Let me know below.

If youā€™re looking to recreate this card, hereā€™s what youā€™ll need:

  • Paper: Carta Bella A Vey Merry Christmas (unfortunately discontinued); black,white,yellow,craft cardstock from the stash
  • Distress Oxide: Ground Expresso
  • Tim Holtz Sizzix: Walter-December 2023, Twig & Stump, Collector
  • Tim Holtz Sizzix, Switchlit Seal
  • Lawn Fawn: Stitched Circle Die, Stitched Rectangle frame, Coffee Cup Gift Holder
  • Krenik Metallics Medium, #16 braid color #238

Happy Crafting!

Challenges entered: