Guest Designer for AAA Colourful March 2026 Challenge - Colourboard #26

Hello everyone.  I’m delighted to be guest designing (GD) at AAA Colourful (AAACF) for their COLOURBOARD #26 challenge. 

I had planned on creating a personalized 80th birthday card for my FIL (father-in-law), but sadly, he passed away unexpectedly one day shy of this milestone and on his sons’  birthday (yep, hubby has a twin and they lost their dad on their birthday).  So I pivoted slightly and made the card generic instead.

The Celebration Balloons from Memory Box (MB) and box pieces from Spellbinders (SB) Birthday Wreath Add-on were die cut from Bristol smooth paper and ink blended with Speckled Egg, Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans or Lost Shadow distress inks (DI).  Tip: Leaving a highlight gives them dimension.  The sentiment was die cut from black cardstock and the back shadow piece from gold foil paper.  The streamers and stars, also from Birthday Wreath Add-on, were die cut from MB gold Festive Glitter paper,  

Next, Black Soot DI was ink blended around the perimeter of a dark gray panel.  Arranged and adhered the box and balloons onto it, then splattered with gold Metallic Watercolor for confetti.  Assembled the card onto a white card base then finished by adding shading with cool gray Copic Sketch markers (C0/1/2/3/4/5/6) to ground it. 

I want to thank Jane and the AAACF team for having me GD.  Please note compensated affiliate links have been used in this post when possible at no extra cost to you.  Your support is appreciated.   This monthly challenge is open till April 14, 2026, so plenty of time to enter!  Huope to see you in the gallery. Thank you for stopping by.

Challenges:

AAA Birthday - Game #83 Use Die Cuts   

Memory Box - #126 Birthday Cards 

Cut It Up - #351 Happy Birthday  

Spellbinders - Happy Spring

Hello there.  I’m late sharing these Easter cards today, but you know the saying… better late than never. 😀   They feature the Ornate Eggs 3D embossing folder (EFJ), Layered Ornate Eggs stencils and Bunny Buddies dies from Simon Hurley released last month in February by Spellbinders (SB). 

The EF and coordinating stenciks are 5.5x8.5-inches, so two A2 size panels can easily be created in one shot.  Bristol paper was trimmed to size, spritz with water then embossed with the EF,  Coloured the eggs next by ink blending gradient colours of brown dye inks through the stencils,   Chocolate eggs (white, milk, dark and anything in between 😉) inspired the colour palette.  For the darker eggs, a sanding block was used to remove colours from the raised areas.  Next, trimmed the panel down to 1/8” smaller than A2 size and matte it onto espresso cardstock.  Shaded the bunnies with grey dye ink for dim3nsion.  Die cut the bunnies and sentiment from white, pink, espresso and gold foil cardstock then assembled the card onto a white card base to finish. 

Rather than letting all the extra pieces from the first card go to waste or collect dust, some were used to create this.

The two eggs behind the bunny were fussy cut out from the second dry embossed egg panel. 

Used the Arches dies to die cut a vellum background and a frame then assembled the card onto a white card base to finish   

SB products used on these cards are linked below (simply click on the images).  Please note, compensated affiliate links have been used throughout this post and blog at no extra cost to you.  I appreciate your support.  Thank you for stopping by. 

Challenges:

Just Add Ink - #780 Stencils, Dies or Both (both)

Inspirational - #362 Word Prompt: Use Stenciks + optional Plaid 

Can You Handle the Pressure - AG Embossing Folder + twist of Sympathy   

Die Cut Divas - Spring 

CRAFT - #775 Spring/Easter/AG 

Hero Arts - Eggstra Special

Hello there.  I’m popping in today to share a couple of cards featuring the new Spring Tweetings stamp & cut and the new Daisy cover plate die from the Eggstra Special collection released earlier this month by Hero Arts (HA).  First up is a simple Easter card. 

All images for both cards were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on X-Press It paper, coloured with Copic Sketch markers then die cut out with the coordinating dies.

Copic markers used:

eggs - too many to list 😂… but I used three marker blends per colour  

basket - E70/71/74/77 

bow - BV000/02/13/04 

chicks - Y11/13, YR23/27 

Next, a Bristol panel was dry embossed with the Daisy cover platte die for the background.  White heat embossed the sentiment onto black cardstock, then die cut out with the matching die. Assembled the card onto a white card base to finish   

As you can see, my next card is a tweet spring card.  The chicks, sentiment and dry embissed daisy background were done the same way and at the same time as the Easter card above.   

Made some changes.  Colouring the daisy centres yellow and added a lavender shimmer die-cut layer on top.  To prevent the chicks from getting lost in the background, a circle was die cut from white glitter paper with an Infinity Circle die.  Assembled the card the card onto a white card base to finish. 

HA products used for my cards are linked below.  Please note affiliated links have been used in this post at no extra cost to you should you click on them and make a purchase.  I appreciate your support. Thank you for dropping by. 

Challenges:

Beautiful Blossoms - AG Florals + optional Mood Board #38 

AAA Colourful - ColourBoard #25 

Simon Says Stamp - Beautiful Moments

Hello everyone.  The new Beautiful Moments release from Simon Says Stamp (SSS) is available now!  As usual this release is huge with products for all your spring crafting.

My first project is an Easter card using four new products from the release.  I must admit I’m not too happy with my colour choic.  It’s a but more subdued than what I like usually.... 🤷🏻‍♀️ 

Anyway I started with the new Embellished Bunny, which is a two piece die set.  One die cuts the bunny shape and the other makes a floral/foliage detail impression (debias).   I knew I would need to ink/impress several times to get a good impression, so I pulled out my Spellbindwes (SB) BetterPress Letterpress System (BP).  Since the did is not a press plate (not thick enough), shims were added until a good impression can be made.  Inked the die with Tattered Rosé distress oxide ink and pressed into BP Porcelain Cotton paper.  Repeated this process a few times before die cutting it out with the bunny die. 

I was about to ink blend Tattered Rose onto Bristol paper to match, but to my surprise, I found a scrap in my stash that matched perfectly!  Die cut the Stitched Nested Egg from it, then lightly spritz with water before embossing it through with the Crocus Field embossing folder. Assembled the card onto a white card base   Die cut the Easter EZ Sentiment Strip with the Sentiment Labels die next, then assembled the card onto a white card base to finish.  

My second project is a simple punny birthday card featuring the new Furever Grateful stamp set.  The balloon (stamped 3x) is from older Best Year Yet stamp set. 

The Guinea8 pig were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on X-Press It paper and on masking sheets to fussy cut out for masks.  Coloured with Copic Sketch markers then black heat embossed the sentiment with clear glitter embossing powder.  Assembled the card onto a white card base and added a white Modern Teardrop frame from my stash for a bit of interest to finish. 

SSS new products used for my cards are linked below.  Please note that affiliate links were used in this post when possible at no extra cost to  you .  I appreciate your support and thank you for dropping by. 

Here’s this release free guft.offer.

P

Whimsy Stamps. Dragon Dreams

Hello there.  After a few agonizing days, my tablet device is fixed!🎉… I guess I’m more dependent on it than I thought . 😂   And for today, I am sharing a Lunar/Chinese new year’s card made with products from Whimsy Stamps (WS).   2026 is the year of the Fire Horse, but I don’t have anything horse-related so after two years (2024 was the year of the dragon), the dragon makes a return. 😉     

Started by stamping the dragon from Dragon Dreams with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb. cardstock.  Normally, I would use X-Press It paper, but I wanted something sturdier.  Stamped the dragon again onto NoFuss masking sheet to fussy cut out for a mask.  Coloured the image with the following Copic Sketch markers.  

red - R14/27/35/37/39 

gold/yellow - Y21/23, YR23/24/27 

horn - W1/3/5 

cloud - C00/1//2/q3/4 

Masked the dragon next and ink blended various red dye inks and Black Soot distress ink around the edges for the background.  Lightly spritz with water and blot with a paper towel for some texture.  Splattered with diluted red dye ink for more texture.  Dried with a heat tool then applied VersaMark ink through a Fireworks stencil and heat embossed with gold embossing powder.  Stamped the sentiment from Cue the Confetti with Versafine Onyx Black ink and heat embossed with clear glitter embossing powder.  Die cut the panel down to 4.25x5.5-inches with a Wonky Stitched Rectangle to give a black border when assembled onto an A2 size card base. 

WS products used for my card are linked below.  Please note affiliate links are used in this post at no extra cost to you.  Your support is greatly appreciated. Happy new year to those who celebrate.  Thank you for dropping in. 

Challenges:

Die Cut Divas - Red and/or Pink 

Allsorts - #843 Embossing + AG 

Addicted to Stamps and More - #511 Make Your Mark    

Tic Tac Toe - #286 Fearured Designer Roseanne (diagonal - Stencil, Ink Blending, Red/Pink)