Mix It Up Challenge Blog + Optional: Anything But a Card

We’re back with another Mix It Up challenge!! 🎉

As always, it’s Anything Goes — or if you’re feeling a little sassy, Anything But a Card.

Naturally… I went with the twist 😄

Many moons ago, I saw Nichol Spohr create gifts using muslin bags, and I was instantly hooked. They’ve been my go-to way to gift treats at Christmas ever since — cute, easy, and totally reusable.

Rewind to November 2025, when I made a big change: I left the corporate world and returned to what I know and love most. These days, I’m living my best life as a personal executive assistant, and I couldn’t be happier! One perk of this role (not always, but often) is a much smaller circle of coworkers — and that’s been true for me.

Last year, I found the cutest stacked coffee cup stencil at Michaels by Recollections — and oh my goodness, it is perfectly sized for a 4" x 6" muslin bag!! I had so much fun creating these, and they truly came together in a jiffy.

I tweaked the colors for men and women, and on the men’s mugs, I swapped out the hearts for radiating polka dots using a super old, long-discontinued stencil from My Favorite Things. I played around with the colors quite a bit… the only thing I kept consistent was the cocoa on the very top cup ☕😉

World Market always has the best shaped marshmallows, and this year’s stash did not disappoint — pink mittens, white trees, and snowflakes! I tucked 3–4 marshmallows into a snack-size Ziploc bag and paired them with a single-serve Elf on the Shelf Hot Cocoa packet. Easy peasy lemon squeezy 🍋

Now… had I really been on top of my game — let’s be honest, how often does that happen? 😂 — I would have made matching tags. But alas… that did not occur.

Even so, the treats were packaged in the cutest little muslin bags, ready to be reused for another gift or saved for a hundred other creative ideas down the road.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you join us at MIX IT UP, we'd love to see your creations!

Mix It Up Challenge Blog + Optional: Embossing (wet or dry)

Hello, hello, friends! ☀️ Time to grab your sunglasses for this bright little creation! 😎 Over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog, it’s always ANYTHING GOES—but if you want an extra twist, this round is all about embossing (wet or dry).

I couldn’t choose… so I used both!

The background is a bit subtle, but it’s there—I used Simon Says Stamp’s Bubble Rings embossing folder and borrowed a fun technique from Jennifer McGuire. I added color directly to the embossing folder, then ran my white cardstock through a few times to softly transfer that blue hue. Such a cool effect!

Next came the fun part: die cutting all the flowers and mushrooms from Taylored Expressions’ Blooms and Shrooms, plus the cutest colorful snails from the Snailed It Cardmaking Kit. This card was inspired by one of Taylor’s sample cards on their website—I'm not sure who designed it, but I absolutely loved the inspiration!

I went bold with bright colors, added ink shading, and finished things off with a bit of wet embossing on the tiny mushrooms and the centers of the smallest flowers. Everything came together on a mini slimline card, with lots of white splatters and a touch of white gel pen to finish it off.

I tried to capture the dimension in the photos—it was such a fun card to create! I hope you’ll join us at Mix It Up with an Anything Goes project, or challenge yourself to add some embossing—wet or dry!

Thanks so much for stopping by! 💛

Mix It Up Challenge Blog + Shaped Card (Optional)

Hey friends, how are you? We are good - cannot believe summer is already here! How's the weather where you are? Leave me a comment, I love hearing from you!!

I'm back with a "Shaped Card" for the Mix It Up Challenge Blog (MIUCB), but if you don't want to create a shaped card, create ANYTHING, we love seeing your creations!

This is a card I made for my hubby to celebrate his birthday. He owns a couple white trucks - none are old OR rusted, lol, but I love making this truck an 'oldie'! The image is from Honey Bee Stamps and makes a perfect shaped card (I used the same image for our son and created a shaped pickup for his birthday also - just a different color 😀).

I used gray Copic markers to give the pickup some shadows, then used lots of brown and orange Copics for the rust. I added some shading to the windows, then used a white gel pen to highlight the windows - I think it looks pretty good, what do you think?

I'm glad you stopped by today, I hope your day is AMAZING!! And don't forget to join us for the MIUCB!!

Mix It Up Challenge Blog + Optional: Diecuts

Boy, do I love die cuts — they’ve basically become my creative language! 😄

And the holidays are the perfect excuse to pull out all the goodies and make fun tags. At Mix It Up, it’s always Anything Goes, or you can add a twist and focus on Die Cuts. You know me… I went with the twist 😉

I made this tag for my boss — total chaos on the loose 😂 — using Spellbinders’ Yuletide Ride and Christmas Cocktails Etched Dies. He loves white cars, so that’s what he got… loaded up with all the things! There’s a peppermint in the backseat (ha!), plus a tree, stocking, gingerbread, Santa hat, lights, candy cane, and greenery. So fun. So crazy.

I added foil using the Sprinkled Glitter hot foil plate with white foil — I love using it as falling snow! ❄️

To finish it off, I smudged white ink under the tires and along the base of the tag, then embossed the sentiment from Waffle Flower’s Family Christmas Sentiments in white.

I hope you join us at MIX IT UP, we'd love to see your creations!