Jul 4, 2026

A Crafty Cat and an Artist Trading Card for America's 250th Birthday

Hello everyone, it's time for a new theme at Allsorts challenge and Donna is hosting this time. Her optional theme is "Stencils" which are my favorite tools (besides stamps) to use. We have a selection of stencils from the Allsorts prize box for 2 lucky winners. 

And here is what I made:

Some of the links included are affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no extra cost to you.

I colored this cute cat at the end of last month when I tried to join the We Love Stamping challenge where the theme was "hobbies and sports". Who can resist this cute crafty kitty working on a handmade card? As it so often happens to me, I didn't get a chance to finish the card for that challenge but it was a perfect starting point for this Allsorts challenge theme. 

The image which is part of the Penny Black stamp set Furry Affection has been stamped with Versafine Onyx ink and colored with Derwent Inktense pencils. For the wall I used a stencil by Tracy Evans for Aall and Create (Crisp Tulips)  and I drew lines for the floor after lightly coloring with the pencils. I added a strip of patterned paper to the top edge and die cuts made with Penny Black's die set Doodles of Love. I've had this die set for a few years now but this was my first time ever using it. 

The card above fits these challenges:


I have another project to share today which also fits Allsorts' Stencils theme.

As we are celebrating America's 250th Birthday today, I decided to make an Artist Trading Card for this special Independence Day.

I love this eagle stamp from Tracy Evans set Fully Fledged (from her Aall and Create release) and thought it would be a perfect choice as the Bald Eagle is the national bird of the US. Then I used the star stencil Lotsa Stars also from Aall and Create on the background. Also used are Tracy Evans Boutique Design sets Alpha Florals (USA and little squares) and Numerical Cats for the number 250. I used a small circle punch to punch out the numbers then added to the fussy cut squares with glue dots. Inking and stenciling was done with Distress inks Fired Brick, Chipped Sapphire and Faded Jeans. I also used a stripes stencil but it's hard to see. 

The photo below was taken at the end of January at a dam on the Mississippi River about an hour from where I live. They gather at this dam to hunt for fish in winter when most of the river is frozen and it's always fun to see many of them. Perfect winter activity!


I am linking this ATC up here:

Thanks so much for visiting and Happy Independence Day to my readers in the United States. 
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Jul 1, 2026

Oh Happy Days - Four Seasons July Challenge

Hello everyone, happy July! A new month meant it's time for a new challenge to start at the Four Seasons challenge blog where it's  All About Summer! We would love for you to join in the fun and share all your summer themed creations with us.  As usual, we have a new mood board to inspire you but it's optional as anything summer goes. 

Here is my summer themed creation inspired by the bottom right of our moodboard which you can see towards the end of the post.

The beautiful paper used as the focal point is from another pack by Stamperia. A few month ago I went on an online shopping frenzy and bought several 8x8 paper packs by Stamperia. This pack is called Blue Dream, released in 2023 so it's not very easy to find.

As always, I had the hardest time cutting into these beautiful papers so I used part of a sheet for my focal point/card front and added a couple strips of paper to the sentiment part. Sentiment is an oldie from Whimsy Stamps (Summer Letter Seals - no longer available). I distressed the edges and used my sewing machine for a special touch.  I added some jute twine to the lemon bundle to finish it off. 

Another view below..


And a peek at our wonderful moodboard... Which one of these inspires you? The challenge is open until July 25th (evening US time). Hope to see you there :) 



I plan to share my card with these challenges:



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Jun 24, 2026

Daisy Chain for Woodblock Wednesday

It's been a few months since I had a chance to join in at the Woodblock Wednesday challenge but I'm happy that it worked out this time 😊

A friend asked me if I could have her 10 year old daughter make a few cards with me for a summer "crafty thing to do" as she really loved the card I had sent for her birthday. So I thought up a design for this card that I hope she will like. This will be one of the cards she will make. And of course the "star tools" will be wood mounted rubber stamps as I think they are much more fun to use for a beginning stamper than unmounted stamps. Especially when they are as cute as the Penny Black critter stamps! She will also do some stenciling and die cutting, and a little bit of coloring. 

I started out with a homemade circles stencil where I had punched several sizes of circles out from an acetate sheet. I used Tea Dye Distress ink for the circles. Then I stamped Penny Black's Daisy Chain 1690K (retired and unfortunately hard to find) onto the circles using Versafine Onyx ink.  I thought the stenciled circles would be a good alternative to coloring up all the little mice (we're doing another card where more coloring is involved and she can always choose to color her mice more). 

The little bit of coloring here was done with Faber Castell Polychromos pencils and I added Stickles glitter to the flower centers. A pretty strip of patterned paper from The Paper Studio by Hobby Lobby was added at the top along with some jute twine. After this was done I thought it would have been nice to add a punched scallop border under the patterened paper but I had already stamped the sentiment and there wasn't any room. She will have to option to add one to her card as I think paper punches are another fun tool to use. 

Some of the links included are affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no extra cost to you.

For an extra embellishment I added a die cut butterfly from Penny Black's die set Soaring and glitter was added to the center. I only added one butterfly to my card but she will have the option to add more to the card she will make. I used a corner rounder punch (old by Creative Memories) on both the card front and card base. Sentiment is from the clear Penny Black set Friendship, another oldie that I couldn't find a link to. I used Versafine Onyx ink but wish I had gone with a brown instead of black. I will let her choose a sentiment so she doesn't have to go with this one. And maybe she'll stamp hers in brown. 

Challenges I plan to share this card with:


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Jun 20, 2026

With Brave Wings She Flies

Hello everyone, it's time for the new Allsorts challenge where I am hosting this time. For my optional theme I chose "Bees, Blooms and Birds". Any or all, and then there is always the Anything Goes option if that works better for you. 

It's a bee themed card from me, always love them but somehow I rarely make them. Maybe I need more bee themed stamps!!

Some of the links included are affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no extra cost to you.

The focal point is a large bee stamp from the Visible Image set Bee Happy. I stamped with Versafine Onyx ink, colored with my Faber Castell Polychromos pencils, then fussy cut. For the "honeycomb" background I used my Chickenwire stencils (old by TCW) with Squeezed Lemonade and Wild Honey Distress inks. I used a circle die to cut out the honeycomb, inked around the edge with Wild Honey Distress ink then glued onto the Posted die cut by Penny Black. I used foam tape to add the bee to the posted die. Those of you in the UK can find the Posted die set at Buddly Crafts along with many other goodies!

The patterned paper on the background is from my stash and I don't know what brand it is. I think it was included in a package of patterned papers I found at a thrift store some time ago. Sentiment is a sticker quote from Tim Holtz's Small Talk sticker booklet. I used a glue pen to add loose glitter to the bee's wings. It's very shimmery in real life unfortunately my camera didn't capture that very well.

Linking up here:

Thanks so much for visiting!


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