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!

Mix It Up Challenge Blog - Fun Fold

Boy, how’s the empty nest life supposed to go? Because somehow, I’m busier than ever! 😅 Between dog sitting (hello, pocket change), our son’s recent wedding 🎉, new responsibilities at work, and a longer commute to our new building…life is full!

BUT…thank you so much for stopping by! This round at Mix It Up, we’re featuring FUN FOLDS. I’ll admit, I usually forget about this option—layering is my go-to—but I’m so glad to have been nudged in this direction!

This fold was inspired by one I saw Jennifer McGuire create (you can find her YouTube video here), so I gave it a try using these festive holiday images. The set was a limited-edition collab between Simon Says (SSS) and Pink and Main, but it’s very similar to THIS stamp set by Pink and Main!

For my card, I started with a kraft base and stenciled white snowflakes, then added a splatter of watered-down white gouache and a mist of glitter. (Hard to capture in photos, but so pretty IRL!) On the white panel, I used a pierced slimline die from The Ton. I stamped and colored various images with Copics, blended with Distress Inks, and finished with embossed, sparkly snowflakes.

Thanks again for stopping by—I truly appreciate you. 💛

And of course, we’d LOVE for you to join us over at Mix It Up!

MIUCB - Paper Piecing or Anything Goes

Hello, friends! Welcome back to another challenge at the Mix It Up Challenge blog! This time we're focusing on Paper Piecing; however, we always welcome ANYTHING GOES, too!

I took a bit of liberty with the "paper piecing" and didn't use it in the typical sense I am familiar with! Instead, I used this sweet doggy from Pretty Pink Posh and paper pieced on some different colors of cardstock for one of his ears, the patch over one eye, and his tail (it's sticking out from the side of the package). I actually did it to one of his paws too, but it ended up being hidden by the bow. 

This card was 100% CASE'd from Nichole Spohr; she provides so much inspiration! I made two of these cards and gave the other to our soon to be daughter-in-law for her birthday. 

I cut the ribbon and bow from super sparkly silver paper. I cut the circles from a darker purple than the gift box, but then added copic coloring to give them even more dimension, I REALLY love how they turned out!

My color inspiration came from Pinterest, HERE.  The base was a wonky stitched rectangle, also from Pretty Pink Posh; if you zoom in, you can see I also used the cascading star stencil  with clear sparkle paste.  I added lots of splatters to the background and finished the design off with a little bling.

Thanks for stopping by; whether you're paper piecing or just creating - please take a moment and share your design with us, we love seeing them!

MIUCB - Layers

Hi friends! I'm finishing up posting the last of my holiday cards and how fitting, as this month at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog we're focusing on layers (or anything goes)! And if you've been around for any length of time, you KNOW I love me some layers - lots and lots! I'm not so good at Clean and Simple, ya know!! 😉

Along with my love for layers, is my love for Pretty Pink Posh products - always fun, whimsical and oh so cute!!

This Big Christmas Cupcake die set was released last year - just in time for the holidays. I had so much fun cutting all the little pieces, making  packages, a big ole bow, snowflakes and some adorable scallops for my tree - in sparking white cardstock of course! The candy cane comes from the Winter Mug die set. I pulled out the Winter Words stencil for the background and some peppermints from the Peppermints Clay Confetti pack to add some fun dimension to the tree. 

Lots of ink blending, some additional stamping on the tree, splatters and the wonky rectangle dies to wrap up my sweet little cupcake!

Hope you will pop over and join us at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog - we love seeing what you create!

MIUCB Monochromatic (Kinda) :)

Hey, hey - WELCOME TO 2025!! We are so excited to see you at Mix It Up. We always have an optional challenge - this one is monochromatic or anything goes.  

If you have seen my other post, you know I created two cards - basically the same, just different color schemes. I love all the details - so many details. Lots of shading, white gel pen and dimension. I used a stencil in the background - aqua and green; I also stamped parts of the Ledger Script in gray ink along with the keys to the keyboard. 

The scallop is a long-time favorite from Simon Says Stamp, Scallop Stitches, there are 3 different sizes of scallops, perfect for many projects. The envelopes and bauble set and typewriter are from The Greetery (they are having a year-end sale right now, too)! All inks are Simon Says Pawsitively Saturated inks - man I love those!!

Let me know which card you like best - pink or aqua! 

Thanks for popping in; wishing you and yours a wonderful 2025!

Mix It Up Challenge Blog - Paper Piecing

Hi friends - I hope this note finds you doing well. How's your weather? Ours is cooling off a bit and I am LOVING IT! I'm a 75 degree girl all the time; thankfully, we get to experience all the seasons, but Spring and Fall are definitely my favorite!!

At Mix It Up Challenge, we're playing with paper piecing, but we always allow Anything Goes too! And that's what I did for this challenge...Mixed Media with all the Tim Holtz Sprays and some sparkle!

The stamp set and dies are from The Greetery, BotaniCuts Toadstool Garden and Bountiful Wreath (no longer available). I had these toadstools left over from another project and taking inspiration from Kelly Lunceford is how my card was made. 

The background is the Square Dance die, also from The Greetery; I cut it from Lawn Fawn's textured pink cardstock. I used Pawsitively Guava ink around the edges. 

All images were sprayed or dripped with a mix of Peppermint Stick, Frozen Fog,  Sparkle spray and white gouache. 

This was a really fun card to put together; it took forever to create - lol - but I love the final product!

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you are inspired to join us with either paper piecing OR anything goes; we enjoy seeing your creations!

Mix It Up Challenge Blog - Ink Smooshing

Hi friends - I hope this note finds you doing well. How's your weather? Ours has been hot, hot, hot...and humid! But Fall is just around the corner, BUT I'm not going to wish the days away!

At Mix It Up Challenge, we're playing with ink smooshing - I LOVE ink smooshing and although I'm not thrilled with this card, I do love how the cupcake turned out. 😀 I used Tim Holtz watercolor paper for the cupcake; the cupcake and stencil (background) are from Pretty Pink Posh. 

I started by stenciling the background, then stamped over the top with Simon Says Stamp's YOU background stamp in a gray ink. I die cut the main panel and popped up the border.

I used Simon Says Stamp's Pawsitively Saturated inks, it's tough to see but there is hot pink, and orange in the frosting. The flower is a light pink. The wrapper is done in purples. Once dry, I dripped on some water droplets and dried with a paper towel; I then stamped circles from Reverse Confetti's Poppies stamp set onto the wrapper (Reverse Confetti is no longer in business, but this is still one of my favorite stamp sets!) 

To finish it off, I made the card into a shaker with lots of little shaker bits inside!

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you are inspired to join us with either ink smooshing OR anything goes; we enjoy seeing your creations!

Mix It Up Challenge Blog - Veggie Stamping

Hi friends, how are you?

We just returned from watching our oldest graduate with her Masters in International Studies, quick trip, but so good to be there with her and our other two kids were able to get away and attend too. Very special!

The bi-monthly challenge for the Mix It Up Challenge Blog is VEGGIE STAMPING! I tend to bend the rules, I guess - didn't realize it till this month. lol I didn't stamp with my veggie, I used it to create the background.

And before we move on, my mojo has so left the building!! I know this happens to all of us, but man - digging yourself out can be super hard. I'm truly not happy with this card, but you know, it is what it is. I'm working hard not to judge myself, but to TRY to enjoy the process and keep pushing on. 😅

I used Color Burst Fresh Florals for the background - I put down the Naples Yellow, added more water, dried the panel, then put down my veggies on the watercolor cardstock and sprinkled with Peony. The Peony came off much darker than I anticipated. I added lots of water, then dried the cardstock. Once dry, I sprinkled on the Marigold. Not much of it came through as the Peony was so dark.

I then removed my veggies, made sure the panel was dry and used the Papertrey Ink Lattice die. I then set about creating my balloons and elements for a fun honeycomb ball surprise. 

I stamped the interior of the frame with 2nd generation stamping using the stars from The Greetery's Four Square Birthday Tags stamp set. I cut 3 balloons, added the Make a Wish to the pink balloon, added glitter paste to the orange balloon using a stencil from Taylored Expressions, Delightful Daisy. 

The yellow balloon was the one I added the honeycomb to with all the little elements. Aren't those stamps cute, 'Open Here', 'Peel, Open, Stick!'; lots of cute sentiments. I die cut the balloon strings from silver cardstock.

I added a flower from The Greetery's Flower Power die and called it good!

Lots going on.

Now, can you guess the veggie? PICKLES! lol Here's the photo of the pickles after they were abused...and the clean looking one? I dropped it on the floor! 😂 Always entertaining in my craft room. The napkin looks pretty though, doesn't it?

Thanks for stopping by; hope you will visit us at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog and join the fun!

Mix It Up Challenge Blog - Inlaid Die Cutting

Hello friends - how are you doing?

We are back at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog (MIUCB) with another super fun challenge - inlaid die cutting, so many was you can do this! I love to send birthday cards or tags, but I leave them blank so the recipient can re-use them. This is no exception!

I created a watercolor smooshed birthday tag with various Distress Inks and a retired Reverse Confetti CELEBRATE die. Rather than the tag with the Reverse Confetti set, I used the largest tag die from the Hero Arts Nested Infinity Tags. I smooshed the inks on and dried with a heat gun, I then cut the word CELEBRATE from the tag, as well as, black cardstock, and a few layers of white cardstock. I inlaid the black CELEBRATE into the tag; I then adhered the white layers to the watercolor piece and adhered the stacked CELEBRATE to the tag slightly offset to the left and down; this way you can peek the black cardstock. I also splattered some black ink for a bit more texture.

I then stamped and colored, with Copic markers, some balloons and presents from MFT's XXX set. I added some white gel pen accents and adhered a blank tag to the back for a handwritten message. I failed to capture a photo of the back of the tag, but it has the Hero Arts sentiment 'Some things just get better with age and you are definitely one of them', I love this Hero Arts birthday sentiment set - so many great sentiments!

Hope you will join us at the MIUCB with an inlaid die cutting project, or ANY project. We always love 'anything goes' creations too!

Thanks for stopping by!

HELLO 2024! Mix It Up Challenge Blog - Mixed Media

 Hi friends,

 How are you? Ready for 2024, did you get to read the terms and conditions before it arrived?  😁😂 

We're back for another fun year of Mix It Up challenges, this round we're focusing on mixed media - I had made this card before I knew the challenge but I have lots of mixed media on this mini slimline card. 

 I so love these candy canes from Honeybee Stamps; all the elements of my card come from the die set with cardstock from Taylored Expressions. I shaded some of the elements, also with Taylored Expressions inks. 

The base scalloped layer was cut with a Taylored Expressions mini slimline die, and embossed with a 3D embossing folder (sorry, I failed to write down which one 😟); alas you can't see much of it, but peek hard. lol

Once embossed, I sprayed with both Frozen Fog and Peppermint Stick mica distress sprays; the shimmer is insane! I set this aside to dry and worked on the candy canes - there are so many options in how you put them together, you truly can't go wrong! I used pink, white, and red. Once adhered, I used glossy accents as the base for all the snow - including the drips - I think the snow is my favorite part! Once added, I sprinkled on rock candy glitter and set aside to dry. I then watered down, slightly, some Honeybee brilliant white ink to splatter on the greenery and berries. the bow was cut from bright white glitter paper. Some white gel pen was the final touch. 

Thanks for stopping by; I hope you will join us, we'd love to see your creations over on the Mix It Up Challenge Blog!!

MIUCB - Anything Goes + Optional Stamping (no digis)

Hi friends - how are you? I'm doing good, I have been creating up a storm, but not the best at sharing. But I'm back this month with a card I had so much fun creating!

Hopefully you will join us at Mix It Up this month, stop by and check out the fun creations the design team made.  

I created this card for our son's birthday this year, I love this stencil from Pinkfresh Studios; I need to dig it out and use it again, I think for Christmas will be fun! His favorite color is orange, so I dug out lots of orange inks from Taylored Expressions. For the last swirl, I used deco foil duo gel, allowed it to dry and used a rainbow foil - it looks so cool IRL!

I stamped the ice cream scoops and cone on colored cardstock, die cut, and added some copic shading. The candles come from THIS set. I added some shading to the flames, some clear glitter and glossy accents. Tied a twin bow and tag onto one of the candles. I embossed a sentiment, added a little heart and it was good to go. 

He turned 23, so I created 2 candles and 3 ice cream scoops. 😀

Thanks again for stopping by; hope you can join us this month at Mix It Up!

MIUCB - Make Your Own Background

Hi friends - how are you?

I'm doing great! We're back with another challenge for Mix It Up; this time we're focuing on making your own background Normally, I would do this with stamps, but I'm in love with these stencils from Pink Fresh Studios; so easy to line up and make cakes in ANY and ALL the colors; I have several of these cards to share!

For this card, I made all the cakes teal and also added large polka dots around the base card; tone on tone. I did add a layer of vellum to soften the birthday cakes. The balloons are cut from Pink Fresh Studios Celebrate washi tape - such a quick and simple way to make birthday cards. 

I tied on some twine and added an embossed image from Taylored Expressions to finish it off. All mini slimline dies are also from Taylored Expressions.

Thank you for stopping by; I hope you will join us this month, we would love to see your creations!

Mix It Up Challenge Blog - Anything Goes + Aperture

Hello friends! How are you doing? Is your weather  heading into summer? We are - it's been 90+ degrees for multiple days here...so here we are!!

This round at Mix It Up, we're focusing on Anything Goes or Aperture (any shaped opening, mine isn't an aperture). I'm sharing one of the cards I made for Mother's Day this year featuring products from Papertrey Ink; it's also inspired by Nichol Spohr - you can see her cards HERE. I love this paper pad from Simple Stories and used it on multiple cards - love wen I use it and don't hoard it! 😄

I splattered on some Tim Holtz Wax Foundry in Statue, heated it up - man, I love this stuff! I added some twine tied off in a bow and a teeny tiny 'love you' flag on the last M in mom. The scallops were cut with this die - makes a nice finished faux stitching edge and the polka dot piece in the background is an envelope from Honey Bee Stamps; such a fun combo!

Thank you for stopping by; I hope you will join us this month, we would love to see your creations!

MIUCB - Anything Goes + Embossing (Dry or Heat)

Hi friends, how's it going?

Have you seen the create in quad stencils from Taylored Expressions? There are several in the store; I used the Peaceful Pines stencil and made some really fun, colorful panels. Love this color combo; pretty sure I saw it used at a crafty camp I attended. 

Our theme this month at Mix It Up is always Anything Goes, but you can add embossing - dry or heat, this month. I LOVE this embossing powder, it has been my fave for quite some time and is what I used on the vellum for the greeting! It always embosses so beautifully!

I used the final stencil and added Decofoil Duo Gel and then added foil using the mini minc machine (I sadly do not remember which foil I used 🙈).

I sponged the edges with a light pink, mounted on some gold matte cardstock and a bright pink notecard. So cheery, IMHO. 

I hope you join us this month, we would love to see your creations!

MIUCB - Anything Goes + optional Distressing (ink or tool)

Hey you - welcome back for some inspiration at Mix It Up! For our next challenge - always "Anything Goes" but if you want to add the twist of distressing (ink or tool), that's great - but remember, never a requirement!

Have you seen the Create in Quads stencils from Taylored Expressions, I love them and had a ton of fun with THIS one. I love these colors and distressed the edges of the main panel with a distressing tool. 

The foiling on these trees is so beautiful as is the sparkle of snow; and this champagne from the Viva Las Vegas papers is SO DIVINE; I used it as the shadow to the "Merry" die from Honey Bee Stamps (retired); also embossed a sub-sentiment from the same set. Love all the sparkle and shine!

 Thanks for popping in; hope to see you again soon, and don't forget to join the fun at Mix It Up!

Mix It Up Challenge Blog - Anything Goes + optional No Stamping

Hi friends - I hope you had a very Merry Christmas; ours was great except for the nasty weather we had; 30 degrees below with wind chill. My hubby had a total knee replacement December 19 so that has kept us close to home BUT we've had to be out and about in the weather for his physical therapy. 😏

So let's move on to the fun these next two months!! At the Mix It Up Challenge Blog, it's always 'Anything Goes' but if you'd like to throw in the option of No Stamping, please do - but never required. Regardless, we enjoy seeing your projects!

I fell in love with these 'newer' Quadrant products from Pinkfresh Studios; I thought it would be fun to add a small poinsettia for the "O" in JOY; the poinsettia is from The Stamp Market. I am still working with foiling - it's new to me, but I do love how this turned out - fun, geometric and festive! All inks are from Taylored Expressions.

Once I had the poinsettia cut, I added some some shading and of course, added stickles and rock candy glitter to the letters and the poinsettia. Some sequins finish it off!

PS - I recognize these are not some of my best photos...I asked someone to help me and I don't think she was thrilled with the task; the photos show it. LOL!!

Thanks for popping in; hope to see you again soon, and don't forget to join the fun at Mix It Up!