Just Us Girls #846 ~ Fall

 

It's STENCIL WEEK at Just Us Girls! And it's anything goes too. That's an easy one! It's also the final challenge for our guest designer, Carrie. What a treat it was having her with us this past month! 

Here's a look at what I have to share.

I pulled out a STAMPlorations mini stencil. The stencil itself is cut in the shape of a tag. I flipped it horizontally on my card base. If you look closely you can see the curve of the design on the top edge. This strip of MB patterned paper was already cut with a Poppystamps Nordic Border die. I added the pretty Pinkfresh Studio leaves in a coordinating color along with a PTI sentiment.

Alrighty, you know the drill. Leaf through those stencils, pick out anything you want and come play along!

Just Us Girls #838 ~ Sending Hugs To You

It's Stencil Week at Just Us Girls! 

I pulled out a Pinkfresh set I haven't used in quite a while.

These snippets were already foiled and die cut. All I had to do was add the color! I popped them into a pretty frame, also Pinkfresh, then onto an embossed card base. A foiled sentiment tab finished things off.

Just wanted to let you know, I might be MIA for a wee bit. I'm having surgery on my wrist Sept. 1st. Remember that fall I took in May? An MRI in late July showed broken bones in my wrist and palm along with a complete ligament tear that the x-ray in May didn't. Lots of things moving around in there that shouldn't be. Pain every day and my orthopedic surgeon said if I do nothing, I will definitely get major painful arthritis. 6 weeks in a full arm cast, then 4 weeks in a smaller one, followed by PT. A couple of months of inconvenience outweighs a lifetime of pain. 

I've been working bit by bit since this news to get my DT assignments made ahead. So, there will be posts through the end of the year and I'm pretty good at one handed typing for visits to your blogs and comments. That will help keep me sane! I hate sitting around, I'm always on the move. My hubby calls me a spitfire!

Just Us Girls #828 ~ Wishing you the best day

 

If you're a flower lover, this week's challenge at Just Us Girls is for you! Denise has given us a pretty Mood Board with a great mix of blooms and colors. I picked a few of the colors and whipped up this little number for you. 

I used the pretty Be Fearless press plate, stencil and die set by Pinkfresh Studio. I created a wreath of sorts with a PPP Scallop circle die to arrange the blooms on. A PPP label die holds my sentiment. Everything was popped onto a floral embossed panel sent to me by my sweet friend, Greta.

This gallery is sure to be a pretty one, hope your card is in it!

**EDIT**

Just saw this works for the new Tic Tac Toe Challenge.

Floral, Pink, Birthday or Floral, Dry Embossing, Summer.

Off she goes to the gallery!

Just Us Girls #807

Bobby is hosting STENCIL WEEK for us at Just Us Girls. Any stencil you have works for us. You can use it as a background, a focal, whatever you decide. I picked a pretty stencil set by Pinkfresh Studio for my card. Take a look...

This is only the second time I've used this stencil in a year ~ OY! I bought it on sale for a steal. I think I wasn't thrilled with the colors I used the first time around, so it got pushed aside. I'm much happier with this version. I also love that I have the dies to go with the set. A pretty Pinkfresh sentiment was added along with a sprinkling of rhinestones. 

I can't wait to see what stencil you pick out for our challenge this week. You are planning to play along, right?

Tic Tac Toe #2!

Hey there! As my sweet friend Michele would say, I have "second helpings" for the Tic Tac Toe Challenge to share. Some of those pretty Pinkfresh Winterberries were still on my desk just begging to go on a card!

The diagonal line texture, free and sparkle was my jumping off point. I used a pretty starry embossed background for this one along with a sweet little angel (Reverse Confetti). Her halo and horn, along with some of the berries, have sparkle added to them with a glittery gel pen. Simple and sweet. I hope you like it!

Enjoy the Beauty of the Season

Hello there! It's been a minute and my mojo has been seriously lacking. What a year this has been. We started with my dad's health issues and are finishing with Covid issue. I mentioned here earlier that our son tested positive just after Thanksgiving. Two days later our daughter-in-law tested positive and yes... three days later Sweet P. Thankfully her symptoms are like a mild cold, just a bit stuffy. Not so much for the other two! Thankfully we've been testing negative. Phew, I sure hope 2026 treats us better! 

On a happier note, check out this little cutie I whipped up for the Tic Tac Toe Challenge. I saw Jaydee's new challenge at The Paper Players this morning and it fits in there too. So, here we go!

A white embossed background topped with Pinkfresh Winterberries and a Pretty Pink Posh reindeer and tag. I used the TTT middle line of White, Free and Square. The tag and gift are square!  I think this little gift bearing cutie will be right at home in The Paper Players gallery too

That's it from me today. 

I hope you're enjoying a relaxing Sunday... we are!

Just Us Girls #800!!!

We're celebrating 800 challenges at Just Us Girls!! What's a celebration without prizes? Some of the DT members are offering prizes on their personal blogs. You can find those details on their individual blogs. Vicki is our hostess this week and she is offering a $25 gift card to Simon Says Stamps on her blog. Rules are simple, you must play along this week and you must comment on the team member's blog to be eligible for their prize. 

Since our Sweet P will be turning 11 this month (I know, can you believe that??!!), I've put together a Sweet Pea stamp set prize package for one lucky random winner. 

A new month brings us a new guest designer. Please stop by to give the talented Leslie Miller a warm welcome!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now that all of the details have been taken care of, lets get to my card. I'm sharing the soon to be 11 year old's birthday card for today's celebration! 

At the beginning of the school year, P picked out school supplies with a cherry theme. That's been her jam since. I've been on the hunt for all things cherry LOL!! Papa and I have a cute mix of cherry items for her birthday. A personalized hoodie, PJs, socks, notebooks, journals and pens are among the mix! I even found a roll of cherry wrapping paper! My sweet friend, Michele was kind enough to send me these Concord and 9th {Cherry Nice} goodies to use for the birthday girl! I framed (Pinkfresh Studio) the cherries, that are popped up on foam tape, and added some cute blue gingham (it matches the PJs!). Embossed hearts by Amy Tangerine were the perfect background.

A matching gift tag was in order!

I added the embossed cherries and layered up the two 'sweet' sentiments Michele added to the package. They went on a coordinating gingham frame tag with the personalized Hero Arts 'P' added on a foam dot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Phew, that was a long post! Thanks for sticking with me to the end. It's your turn now, friends. All of us at Just Us Girls hope you'll join in our celebration this week. It's ANYTHING GOES... that's an easy one! Have fun!

Just Us Girls #795 ~ A Harvest of Blessings

Hello and welcome! It's time for a new challenge at Just Us Girls. It's also a new month and that brings with is a new Guest Designer. I'm very happy to have a dear blogging friend of mine joining us for the month of October. Please give a big warm welcome to the talented Greta Hess! 

When Bobby picked the word LEAVES for us, I knew just the leaves I would use. This Pinkfresh set became a favorite the first time I used it last year. Cutting them from polka dot paper makes them even better! I popped two sprays onto a layered pair of SB label dies. I've had those dies for an eternity. Isn't the embossed edge nifty? My sentiment (MFT) was heat embossed on vellum. A couple of glue dots was all it needed and they're hidden with gold confetti pieces from PPP. Easy peasy!

Your turn now. 

What kind of leaves will you let fall into our gallery?

FMS ~ Happy Birthday!

I couldn't let the big celebration at Freshly Made Sketches slip by without playing along. Sending a big congrats on 700 sketches to all of their design team members past and present! This is what I put together for them this week.

I die cut 4 stitched squares then snugged them all together in my Misti. I stamped this pretty PFS wreath using PTI's Simply Chartreuse ink. After adding them to my square card base, I put together a yummy little cupcake (PTI). A sweet striped wrapper and shimmery pink frosting were topped with a couple of bright pink blooms. After playing around with sentiment ideas, this tab from Memory Box seemed a good fit!

Here's my first time playing along at FMS back in Feb. 2012!

Thanks for stopping by to visit, it's greatly appreciated!

Wishing you all a blessed weekend!

Just Us Girls #787 ~ Thank You

We've had such a busy summer and it's flown by. I can't believe it's August already! That does bring with it a new round of challenges at Just Us Girls. Elizabeth is kicking things off with Die Cut week. She's made it easy... FLORALS! A new month also means a new guest designer. We're tickled pink to have Julie Beech joining us!

After seeing so many of my blogging friends use this pretty Amazing Things set from Pinkfresh Studios, I had to go shopping. Stamps, stencils and dies cuts... oh my! I framed (PTI) this little beauty with shimmery plum and lavender gingham papers. Doing it this way let me create a second card using the opposites of the frame die cuts. 

I don't use purple very often, but this sweet gingham paper nudged me in that direction!

Time for you to pick a posey or two and join us this week!

FMS ~ Thinking of You

The hubs and I have been crazy busy lately with Sweet P's softball (did I mention he's an official coach alongside our son!), transporting my dad to Cardio Rehab, taking care of my parent's other needs and well, just life in general. Today is a free day for us, so I got crafty! I was intrigued by Verena's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches. Here's what I came up with.

Using a couple of circle dies, I cut a crescent moon from some PP in my stash. This pretty leafy vine by Pinkfresh had just the curve I needed to decorate that moon! I popped on a pretty little bloom by The Stamp Market then stamped and die cut the sentiment. My sweet friend Greta always includeds an embossed panel when she sends me a card. This one seemed to mimic the bloom I used.  A sprinkling of dew drops and she's good to go!

Thanks so much for stopping by today. 

Just Us Girls #776 ~ May your memories be a blessing

Hello, friends! I'm hosting our stencil week challenge at Just Us Girls and I hope you have time to play along with us. You can use any stencil in your arsenal! I went with this little number from Pinkfresh Studio.

I bought this set for the sentiments, but the flowers are lovely too. I just have a heck of a time getting the colors to suit me. There's actually another version under this bouquet... shhh, don't tell! Not so sure I did a great job here either... better luck next time! Anyway, I added it to a pretty embossed background that I cut with a PTI postage die. A sentiment from the set and a couple of tiny Poppystamps butterflies finished it off. 

The team and our guest, Rosemary have some incredible inspiration for you. Let's go check it out, shall we?

Just Us Girls #768 ~ With Sympathy

 

It's stencil week at Just Us Girls! When trying to decide which stencil to use this time, I came across a small one from ARTplorations that hasn't seen much use.

Sadly, we were in need of a sympathy card. We lost a brother-in-law unexpectedly last week. I made this card for our nephew and his wife. A simple vase of violets (IO) was stamped then colored with a water pen. I did a bit of selective soft stenciling around them. The panel was cut with a Pinkfresh border then matted with coordinating blue cardstock. I love what the stenciling adds to this simple design!

2025 has proved to be a difficult year for us thus far. My dad had quite the ordeal with his heart valve replacement. After 2 months, he's finally home. My big brother lost his wife yesterday after an illness.We are all heartbroken. We also have a young family member (9 years old) in the hospital recovering from heart surgery followed by complications. I pray as we move into spring, things will improve.

Have a blessed day friends and hold on to those you love just a bit tighter today.

Just Us Girls #764 ~ Hi

Stencils... who knew they would be so much fun to create a card with. I remember stenciling lilacs on the walls of my craft room in our former home. Gosh it was such a cozy room. I had a Pier 1 Imports chair covered with fabric that included lilacs and hydrangeas, an oak pie safe to store lots of crafting goodies, a big window and a cozy nook for stamping! All of that has nothing to do with my card, but it was a fun trip down memory lane!

You guessed it, it's stencil week at Just Us Girls and I have a new favorite set to share on my card today.

I was immediately drawn to the flowers in Pinkfresh Studio's Be Fearless set when I saw them. I snatched them up during a sale! I used rose gold hot foil on them, die cut, then stenciled in various shades of pink. The leaves look green here, but they are light aqua accented with sage green. An oversized sentiment from The Stamp Market was a fun pairing for them along with a wonky border (MFT) panel to rest them on. 

I just love the way this turned out and I hope I've inspired you to play along with us this week!

Celebrating You

It's been a minute since I've been able to sit down and create. My dad went in for a heart valve replacement mid January, had a complication, spent a few days in the hospital, then a skilled nursing rehab facility and is now back in the hospital. My mom has vision problems and can no longer drive so we have been the official chauffeurs and caretakers. I don't mind, I wouldn't have it any other way! 

I needed some down time last night, so I got crafty. My sweet friend Michele is guesting at a new to me challenge ~ As You See It, so I jumped in with this card!

A sweet piece of patterned paper was my starting point. I popped it onto an ivory card base along with a panel cut with a SSS cover plate. An Altenew Fantasy Floral die cut was adhered to a pierced circle along with my Pinkfresh gold embossed sentiment. A trio of gold confetti bits and some knotted ribbon finished things off. I think I ticked all of the boxes for the challenge!

Thanks for stopping by, I sure do appreciate it!

Just Us Girls #759 ~ Lots of Love

Hello and welcome! It's Stencil Week at Just Us Girls and I've put one of my Christmas sale items to good use!

I picked up this Pink Fresh Sweet Leaves Frame stencil and die set for a ridiculously low price that was too good to pass up! I've used Citrine and Salmon inks to bring it to life. A matte gold hot foiled sentiment fit perfectly in the center. Those butterflies were actually added to hide two foiling boo-boos!

And now it's your turn. 

Pull out some of those stencils, new or old, and come join us! 

Just Us Girls #758 ~ Thank You

 

Bobby has chosen a pretty winter Mood Board for us this week at Just Us Girls with lots of pretty images and colors to inspire you. I picked out a couple of the colors and images for my card. Take a look...

I stamped the PF Winterberry background on a white panel, colored it with Copics, then cut it down using an old SB label die. After die cutting a couple of PPP tags, the MFT pine was stamped on and the little die cut pinecones added. I punched a tiny hole in each tag and threaded a bit of twine through. I glued just the knot to the card. I thought rounding the corners echoed the round edges of the two labels. 

I asked the hubs what he thought of it. He said, meh... nothing spectacular. At least he's honest! 

Tic Tac Toe Second Helpings

As my sweet friend Michele would say, I'm back with "second helpings" for the Tic Tac Toe challenge!  I had created another card with more of those pretty little Pinkfresh Winterberries that fit into their challenge. It actually works for two of the lines ~ diagonally (bottom left to right) and right down the center!

My die cuts are the winterberries and sentiment: Pinkfresh, pine sprigs: Simply Graphic, bow: The Stamp Market and the metallic frame: Pretty Pink Posh. The dry embossed snowflakes are an oldie but a goodie EF by Darice.

That's it from me this evening. 

Thanks ever so much for stopping by!

Enjoy the Beauty of the Season!

I'm enjoying the beauty of the season from the inside of my warm and cozy home! It's snowy, windy and cold...brrr! Just a few inches of snow, thanks goodness. A good time to finish up those last minute Christmas cards. This one fits into the Tic Tac Toe challenge. I've used the center vertical line: Frame, Embossing, Winter Foliage.

*EDIT... I'll be entering this at The Paper Players too, thanks to my friend Rosemary's reminder about their deer challenge!

My dry embossing is a panel sent to me by my sweet friend, Greta. Thanks, Greta! I popped a cutie little reindeer into a polaroid frame (both by PPP) then tucked in some winter berries by Pinkfresh. They were stamped, heat embossed, stenciled and die cut. Don't you love it when a set includes all of the possibilities!

Off we go to the gallery. Stay warm, friends!

Just Us Girls #755 ~ Final Challenge of 2024!

Hello and a Happy Thanksgiving to my US friends! We have a new challenge for you at Just Us Girls today and I'm hosting. This is our final challenge of the year. The team is taking the month of December off. We'll be back in January... 2025!

This is also the final challenge for our guest designer, Jenn Borjeson. Thanks so much for joining us this past month, Jenn, it's been a pleasure having you design with us!

Okay, it's stencil week and this is my card!

I started with the pretty Pinkfresh Winter Berry stamps, stencils and dies set. Then I just had to decide what to do with some of those sprigs! I've had this pretty little jingle bell in my stash for a long time. It came from a friend... but I can't remember who. Sorry about that, friend! It did turn out to be the perfect vehicle for those berries and a little pine to boot. I popped everything onto a sweet PTI layered tag set. One cut from gingham and one stenciled. An embossed (SSS) panel added to the layers and it was good to go!

We do hope you'll join us for our finale challenge of the year. Pick out a stencil or two and come play along!