Happy Birthday - Masculine (CD #676)

Creating a card for a color challenge can be daunting. The color board for Color Dare #676 was no different. 

But I adjusted my attitude and went to work. Orange is a common color for fall, so I went through my stash of fall papers. I selected a plaid paper with three shades of orange, along with off-white and purple. I thought the color green was an appropriate color as well. So, there were my two colors, purple and green, not counting neutrals.

I have a sketch book from ages ago, when I first discovered using sketches for inspiration. This card was inspired by one of those early sketches. Because my card is not difficult to construct and no special techniques were used, I am not including information on its creation or the decoration on the inside.

The Design Team at Color Dare invites you to join our challenge. You can view our cards and the guidelines HERE. This challenge is biweekly and ends on Thursday, November 13, 2025. We look forward to seeing your projects.

Melanie

Materials

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Very Vanilla, Elegant Eggplant, Pumpkin Pie

Ink on leaf: Stampin' Up! Baked Brown Sugar & Pumpkin Pie

Patterned Paper: CS "Abundance", scraps from stash

Sentiment and Ephemera: CS "Abundance"

Misc.: SBC Foam Tape (1 mm & 2 mm); Stampin' Up! Enamel Dots; Jute Cord

 

Congratulations! (DTC #203)

Welcome to Stitches and Smudges! My card was created for Double Trouble's Challenge #203. This biweekly challenge is open through noon on Sunday, November 9, 2025. As is customary, below is the 3-2-1 Recipe designed for this challenge, called "Round and Round" in observance of "Look for Circles Day," which occurs on Sunday, November 2nd.

Trouble Maker has made herself dizzy looking round and round for circles after being told about this observance. It's supposed to be a family fun day celebrated outside, but we convinced her to come inside, calm down, and look for circles in her stash.

Let's get around to Thing 1's requirement by creating a project using all the ingredients from our 3-2-1 Recipe below.

3-2-1 Recipe "Round and Round" 

Servings - Unlimited Portions of Fun

AT LEAST

3 Circles

There are three die-cut circles.

2 Images

The two images are ephemera of a Tern and the fussy-cut Turret shell.

1 Ribbon, Twine or Cord, etc.

Silk cording was added behind the ephemera.

 

Twisted Sister said she was in a spin looking for circles, and she wanted to see at least one bird on the card. This is optional, but if you include a bird, you will earn an extra chance in our random drawing.

Optional: The ephemera includes a photo of a Tern.

As for Double Dare's optional dare, she has offered the sketch above in Try a Sketch on Tuesday #682. Be sure to review the guidelines at the Double Trouble #203 Blog. 

Optional: I did not use this sketch.

Please note that TSOT begins Tuesday, Oct 28th, so this sneak peek gives you the day before to create; but remember... to prevent backlinking, your project should not be posted, published, or entered before Oct 28th, in Try a Sketch On Tuesday HERE."  

The Design Team has posted their cards on the Double Trouble #203 Blog to offer you ideas and inspiration for joining the challenge.

Melanie

Materials

Cardstock: SU Basic White, SBC Holographic Collection (silver), CS Lime Green, and my stash 

Ephemera: CS - cut-apart and a fussy-cut shell image from my stash.

Embossing Folder: Darice - very old

Die: Whimsy Stitched Circles

SBC Foam Tape (1 mm & 2 mm)

Celebrating Your Day (CD #674)

Color Dare Challenge #674 features unlikely colors for the Autumn season, but they work well for a feminine or baby card. My sister-in-law has a birthday in a few weeks, so this card is for her. I remained perplexed, but then I saw a YouTube video HERE by Natalie Bowers on CAS cards, which inspired me to get started.

Here is the color board:

After masking a few areas on cardstock with hand-torn mint tape, the open spaces were colored by blending the three ink colors. The tape was removed, and a few images were stamped in black ink on the card front. The sentiment was stamped, matted on black cardstock, and fussy-cut before being added to the card with foam tape. The card was then matted in black cardstock and adhered to a pink card base. 

The inside was lined with a white panel, decorated with a tiny stamped bird colored with Copics, and a few scattered dots from the same stamp set used for the sentiment. I resisted the urge to use anything in silver metallic, although I liked the idea. 

The Design Team has provided beautifully created cards. They can be viewed at the Color Dare #674 Blog. Those cards may inspire you to share your talent with us.

Thank you for paying a visit. Please feel free to leave a comment.

Melanie

Materials

Stamps: Stampin' Up! #129258 "Backyard Basics" and #153289 "Gorgeous Posies" (sentiment)

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black; Stampin' Up! Boho Blue, Flirty Flamingo (pink), and Fresh Freesia (lavender)

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Basic White, Basic Black, & Flirty Flamingo

Misc.: SBC Foam Tape (2 mm)

Size: A2

Techniques: Masking, Ink Blending, Fussy- cutting

IT'S A PUMPKIN FEST! (DTC #202)

We're celebrating Autumn at Double Trouble Challenge #202. This is a biweekly challenge that runs through Sunday, October 26, 2025. Our recurring theme is to use our 3-2-1 Recipe.

Trouble Maker is all about seasonal colors, including Halloween, so this is your chance to enhance your card with ghost images, or pretty patterns and festive colors. My card was very bright, so I toned it down by layering a scrap of vellum over the stenciled pumpkins..

Shades of Fall

Servings -  Unlimited portions of fun.

Ingredients

AT LEAST

3 Colors in shades of fall

There are five colors.

2 Images

The two required images are the die-cut leaves.

1 Stenciled or dry-embossed element

The background features stenciled pumpkins.

For the optional twist, Twisted Sister has her sights set on including any seasonal fruit(s) and vegetable(s) in your design. Just a hint... she loves pumpkins and gourds, so no worries if you don't have a stamp or die for other foods. 

The background features pumpkins.

Hmmm... I wonder... Where would you find a stamp or die of a rutabaga?

As for Double Dare's optional dare, she has offered up the sketch at Try Stampin' on Tuesday #681. Be sure to review the guidelines on the Double Trouble #202 Blog.  Optional: I did not use this sketch.

There is also an alternate choice from Double Dare, which is to play along at the Pearly Sparkles Challenge #112. This challenge is open from Wednesday, October 1, through Friday, October 31, 2025. Optional: My card has been entered into the following challenges.

In addition, I have added this card to Challenge #78 at Inspiration Station.

And also to Challenge #628 at Cupcake Inspirations.

And just for fun, I included the October Neglected Stuff Challenge because I have used discontinued ink and cardstock from 2011, called Peach Parfait, as a substitute for Pumpkin Pie.

The Design Team invites you to share your talent by considering these challenges. Thank you for stopping by my blog.

Melanie

Materials

Inks: Stampin' Up! Boho Blue, Flirty Flamingo, Lost Lagoon, Peach Parfait, & Pecan Pie

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Basic White, Cajun Craze, Peach Parfait, Vellum

Dies: Echo Park "Thankful Leaf Trio" & Kokorosa "Pumpkins" (a cover-all die used as a stencil)

Misc.: SBC Foam Tape (1 mm)

Size: A2

You Made My Day! (CD #672)

Color Dare #672 is the perfect place to share your talents. You are challenged to use the color board below. This color combination is classic, offering numerous possibilities. I was wishing there was one more color—perhaps something bright, like red, orange, or green. The absence of an additional color meant I had to work with neutrals or metallics. I shopped my stash and found patterned paper to fit the challenge. The layout is just an old sketch from my scratch pad. I also was intending to go with a masculine card, but I think it is gender-neutral.

Simple to make, the matted horizontal panel was adhered to the Kraft-type cardstock, and the matted vertical panel was added on top using foam tape. The sentiment was stamped and die-cut, then added to the card. Finally, a few gem stickers were added to spread the blue color around the card. The inside was decorated with coordinating patterned paper.

Please give Color Dare #672 a try! This biweekly challenge is open through Thursday, October 16, 2025. 

Melanie

Materials

Stamp set: Stampin' Up! #133485 "Best of Greetings"

Ink: Stampin' Up! Night of Navy

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Very Vanilla and Baked Brown Sugar

Patterned Paper: Scraps from my stash

Die: Sizzix Framelits #658838

Misc.: SBC Foam Tape (1 mm) & Honey Bee gem stickers