SOS581: Super Sketchy

This fortnight at Shopping Our Stash it's one of my favorite types of challenge: we're getting SKETCHY, woohoo! And it's a beauty, too: 

Here's my card:

I've actually done a very faithful take on the sketch but it's VERY embellished so I hope you can see "the bones" lol. Nearly everything on here is from 49 and Market's Kaleidoscope and Spectrum Gardenia collections, which is unusual for me, but I just kept finding bits I liked, so I went with it. There are patterned papers, diecuts, laser cuts, ephemera and tags... all inked and stacked and combined into the pattern of the fab sketch... though my focal point is slightly to the right of center, to accommodate the gorgeous flowers on the patterned paper base.

SOS581: Let's Get Sketchy runs until the evening of Monday, September 7th; so be sure to check out the SOS Crew cards and start planning what you'll link up with us this time.

SOS580: Back to School

The new challenge at Shopping Our Stash is called Back to School and I bet you can guess what we'd like to see, right?! Well, just in case you can't guess, here's the official blurb: "Make a card that features something you would see at school: pencils, paper, alphabet, lockers, playground equipment; OR a card for a teacher or student." There are lots of choices here so let's get right to it:

I raided LOTS of seriously older stash for this one, so I'm patting myself on the back a tiny bit. I've got loads of Echo Park Stickers, a few seriously old (but beautiful) washi tapes, a bunch of Eyelet Outlet school-themed brads, and... wouldja believe... that background graph paper is Love, Elsie?!

Visit SOS to see what the rest of our very inspiring Crew have made, then start planning what you'll link up with us this time! SOS580: Back to School runs until the evening of Monday, August 24th.

SOS579: What's the Good WORD?

The new challenge at Shopping Our Stash is called, "What's the Good Word?" for which we'd like you to design a card around a WORD. You could use a Word Die, Stickers, or a Word Stamp - just make sure it's clear what your WORD is.

I have A LOT of alphabet die sets, so I used this opportunity to break out half a dozen of them, diecut the letters for "HAPPY" from a cool old street map, and make a super wordy background for a birthday card that also features fun vintage car illustrations and an Eyelet Outlet Compass Brad. 

Alphabet Die sets used:  Altenew Bold Alphabet Lowercase; MFT Essential Alphabet and In Stitches Uppercase; Sizzix/ Tim Holtz Alphanumeric Thinlits and Typo Lowercase; Impression Obsession Typewriter Lowercase. 

While I had all my car-related stuff out, I made a gift bag to coordinate: It's got pieces of several maps, a map index, the title page of a vintage Road Atlas to Britain, loads of (out of print) washi tape, some cool tape measure ribbon, and Eyelet Outlet Classic Car and Driving Brads.

SOS579: What's the Good WORD runs until the evening of Monday, August 10th. Head on over to SOS to check out what the rest of the Crew have made, it's definitely worth the trip!

SOS577: You're So Sweet

It's time for a new challenge at Shopping Our Stash and this fortnight we're embracing all the SWEET things in life. Thus, we'd like to see something sweet on your project: it could be a sweet treat, a cute baby card, however you interpret it. As you can see, I went with "sweet treats". Of course.

Ninety percent of this card is composed of stickers; and ninety percent of the stickers are ancient, making this especially stashy, woohoo! The cake, balloons and cupcakes are Susan Branch; I couldn't tell you exactly what age they are, but they had a price tag from a craft store that closed like fifteen years ago so... old, lol. The calendar is Echo Park's Victoria Garden... not quite as old, but still quite classic. There are three styles of washi tape (kind of old); and all of the flower stickers came from a Mambi planner sticker book, circa 2022. The ledger paper background is from Crate Paper and not very old.  

SOS577: You're So Sweet runs until the evening of Monday, July 13th. Check out the other awesome Crew cards at Shopping Our Stash, and start planning what you'll link up with us this fortnight!

SOS576: Summertime...

...and the living is: rather muggy, actually; at least it is here in central New Jersey at the moment. But not all of summer will be 90f and humid (...hopefullly...) so this fortnight at Shopping Our Stash we're celebrating SUMMERTIME in card form. And therefore, we'd love for you to make something that captures something you'd see or experience in that season.

My card started out beachy... (growing up in the Philadelphia suburbs, we spent many summer vacations in Wildwood, NJ; decades before "Jersey Shore" was a tv show, lol) ...so that vibe is something I think of immediately when considering Summertime. Thus I've got squares of beachy and oceany paper, plus sand dollars from Eyelet Outlet's Sea Shore Brad set. As I worked, the vibe strayed into Hawaiian territory, with yellow hibiscus flowers and tropical foliage, thanks to Lawn Fawn's Tropical Leaves and Happy Hibiscus die sets. Once that occurred, I decided "aloha" was the correct sentiment, so I diecut it from tropical paper using Altenew's Bold Alphas. 

SOS576: Summertime runs until the evening of Monday, June 29th. Visit Shopping Our Stash to see our Crew's inspiring takes on this challenge and start planning what you'll link up with us!

SOS575: KRAFT-astic

The new challenge at Shopping Our Stash is a celebration of KRAFT cardstock, woohoo! Since this is pretty self-explanatory, I'll get right to my card: 

As you can plainly see, my card base is kraft. Perhaps less obviously, the panel under the butterfly is also kraft, but since I adorned it very enthusiastically with white Vicki Boutin 49 and Market rub-on transfers and Apree floral stickers, it's slightly less prominent than I thought it would be, lol. But that was actually the start of my card and it inspired the stack of ancient diecut butterflies, as well as the addition of white doily pieces and a bit of machine stitching. The pink panel, btw, is part of the packaging from the rub-ons, I love the way it softly echoes some of the images I used on the kraft.

SOS575: KRAFT-astic runs until the evening of Monday, June 15th. Head on over to Shopping Our Stash to see the Crew cards and link up your own KRAFT-astic masterpiece.

SOS574: Congratulations

Graduation and wedding season is upon us, so the new challenge at Shopping Our Stash is especially timely. We'd like to see CONGRATULTIONS cards: for any occasion, in any style, using any items from your stash. Then you can congratulate yourself on being ready for the next big occasion!

I raided my stash of older Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi stamps, including Delightful Art; as well as some of my favorite shades from Wendy's signature Archival Ink collection. I found that cool green leafy overstamped panel AND the pale blue embossed piece in my box of leftover bits; the silver dragonfly brads are from The Ink Pad (♥♥♥!) years and years ago; the two yellow mats are from my stash. 

"SOS574: Congratulations" runs until the evening of Monday, June 1st. Hop over to SOS to see the inspiring Crew cards and start planning what you'll link up with us this time.

SOS573: Man's Best Friend

We're celebrating PETS this fortnight at Shopping Our Stash, so we'd like to see a card featuring a critter you might designate as such. Before you see my card and think, "I doubt anyone has bears and giraffes as pets, Lauren!" please note, there is a doggy in the back seat! 

One of my favorite things about SOS is the fact that older products are not only ok, but actively encouraged! Having said that, I didn't realize that Simon Hurley's (2020ish) Road Trip stamp set was out of print at Ranger* until I started writing this up; but I still love it and it fits the challenge. I like to paper-piece the car, but to color the critters; so I stamped the whole thing twice... (once on plaid paper** backed with cardstock and once on plain white cardstock) ...and layered the finished pieces. I'm pretty confident ALL of the scraps and partial pieces of patterned paper I used are out of print, too, actually. Muppets fans may enjoy the fact that, being in a hurry, these guys are traveling by map!!!

You, however, don't need to hurry, because SOS573: Man's Best Friend runs until the evening of Monday, May 18th. Hop over to SOS to see what the rest of the Crew have made and to link your own pet-centric creation! ♥

*I did still see a few available in various online stores, so if you love the cute critters in their little retro car, you might be in luck.

**Note to auto manufacturers worldwide: I would happily buy an ACTUAL plaid car. Just puttin' it out there...

SOS572: Up, Up and Away

This fortnight at Shopping Our Stash, the challenge is to make a card that contains something you'd see in the sky. Such as? Well, there are birds, butterflies, balloons, airplanes, a rainbow, the sun, the moon, satellites, or... in this case... clouds!

Having decided on clouds, I had some trouble choosing WHICH of the many well-hoarded, cloud-bedecked patterned papers I should use, so I finally chose two for the card and one to stage with. I broke out one of my all-time favorite classic stamp sets (and yes, by "classic" I mean "OLD" lol!) My Favorite Things' Polynesian Paradise, colored the adorable hula girl, a pineapple, some flowers and YES, why not add a handsome toucan for one more sky-centric element.

 Hop over to SOS to see what the rest of the crew have made to inspire you. Challenge 572: Up, Up and Away runs until the evening of Monday May 4th, so you have lots of time to join the fun.

SOS571: Sparkle, Sparkle!

The new challenge at Shopping Our Stash is called, "I don't Sweat, I Sparkle" and if you've already guessed that we want to see projects that feature gems, glitter, sequins or bling, WELL DONE! Let's get right to the card:

I actually made TWO cards for this challenge because the first one (might show it next week) didn't look very bling-y at all in the photo. Possibly because I started with my design and then added bling around it. So I decided to try again, but this time START with the bling... a nice big swirl of black crystals from Eyelet Outlet. Or, more precisely, several smaller half-swirls that I Frankenstein-ed and re-arranged so they'd nicely fill up the area around the butterfly. My background was a collage-look paper from 49 and Market to which I added real tickets, vintage postage and tiny fussycut butterflies. Speaking of butterflies, that big chipboard one in the center is actually accented with glitter that you absolutely CANNOT see, but... just thought I'd mention, lol.

Oh and speaking of Eyelet Outlet, ALL their bling is currently on sale for just $1 a pack! But... when it's gone, it's gone, so get a-shoppin'! 

And be sure to check out the fabulous array of sparkliness at Shopping Our Stash and start planning what you'll link up with us!

SOS570: White OUT

It's time for a new challenge at Shopping Our Stash and this fortnight we'd like to see cards/ projects which contain NO white. 

I recently realized that it's been quite some time since I made a card with one of my favorite die sets: Hero Arts' Frame Cuts Tulips. If this set had coordinating stamps, not only do I not own them, I've never seen them. And while they look perfectly nice just cut from cardstock or patterned paper and pieced; it's actually not terribly difficult to add a sort of ruffley edge just below the top of each flower to make them look a bit dimensional. You can use inks, paints or watercolors, but this time I went with my trusty Tombows in three very nicely blendy shades of pink and two of green. When I had the colors to my liking I took very sharp Prismacolor Pencils in a coordinating shades of dark pink and medium green to emphasize the layers and add a bit more shading. I used gel prints for my label shape and card background; the one looks like it actually has a bit of white on it but NO, I assure you, it's very pale pink. I used a rich rusty orange-ish red for my mat and for the A6 cardbase. I even changed the top thread on my sewing machine from white to light pink before adding some machine stitching as a finishing touch.

SOS570: White OUT runs until the evening of Monday, April 6th. Visit Shopping Our Stash to see our Crew's inspiring takes on this challenge and start planning what you'll link up with us this time.

SOS569: I'm COUNTING on You

If you've guessed from the title that this fortnight's challenge at Shopping Our Stash is to make a card with at least one numeral on it, HOORAY, you're right! Here's my card:

Lots of seriously elderly stash usage here: my numerals are from this ancient set of Making Memories Alphabet Rub-ons; I've applied them to my well-hoarded Hambly Screenprints transparency card base, so that they peep out as mirror images from the under the corners of my funky collage. There are also numerals on the tickets, and some in the various text papers as well. That beautiful orchid sticker is from DK's Botanists' Sicker Anthology, a book that Stephanie gave me a couple of years ago and despite LOTS of use it still has hundreds of gorgeous stickers in it! Not to brag, but I really love how this came out AND it's a reminder of the fact that challenges often spur me on to make something I would not have thought of, otherwise.

SOS569: I'm COUNTING on You runs until the evening of Monday, March 23rd. Head over to Shopping Our Stash to read the details and check out the inspiring cards our Crew has made. Then root around for one or two neglected craft items and join the fun!

SOS568: Golden Years

Time for a new challenge at Shopping Our Stash and this fortnight we're going for the GOLD; by which we mean we'd like to see cards and projects which prominently feature that gorgeous metallic shade. Here's my card:

I used Ranger Princess Gold Embossing Powder with (parts of) three different Simon Hurley create. stamps (Typewriter, Leaf Prints and Rose Borders) on a square of a collage-style paper from Prima's Pretty Pale Collection of several years ago. To add to the distressed/ vintage collage vibe, after I applied the embossing powder to each section, I took a small paintbrush and randomly flicked some of it off before using the Heat Tool. I put a bit of Dark Roast Archival around all the edges of the 5" square panel, matted it on glossy gold cardstock and then added Memory Box's Maribelle Butterfly (cut from the same gold cardstock) and machine stitching around the edges.

SOS568: Golden Years runs until the evening of Monday, March 9th. Hop over to SOS to see the rest of the Crew's Golden goodies, then start thinking about what you'll link up with us this fortnight.

SOS567: Bent Out of Shape

For the brand new challenge at Shopping Our Stash we'd like you to make a Shaped Card, by which we mean no squares or rectangles allowed. But round, oval, diamond, hexagonal or... my personal fave... CUPCAKE-SHAPED are all excellent choices!

I don't use my Stephanie Barnard Cupcake Fold-Its die set often enough, but to compensate, whenever it's out, I rarely stop at one cupcake-shaped card. This time I made a trio of treatos, in appropriately cupcakey colors of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. I used scraps for all of the layers except the cardbases, for which you actually need 4.5 x 12" piece of sturdy cardstock.

SOS567: Bent Out of Shape runs until the evening of Monday, February 23rd. Be sure to check out all the fab shaped cards the Crew have made to inspire you at Shopping Our Stash!

SOS566: Love Me Do

The theme this fortnight at Shopping Our Stash is Love, so we'd like you to make a love-themed project.  Here's my card:

I've got LOTS of hearts and lots of color and lots of love, as befits the occasion of my (grown up) niece who was born on Valentine's Day. Being a scrap-saver, I had plenty of small patterned paper pieces from which I could diecut hearts, then handcut two layers of wonky squares to complete my grid design. Believe it or not, the most difficult part of this card was choosing a sentiment die of the right size and shape, then finding a shade of cardstock that stood out well enough on top of All. That. Color!

SOS566: Love Me Do runs until the evening of Monday, February 12th.

SOS565: Out with the Old and in with the New

This might be one of the longest-ever titles for a challenge at Shopping Our Stash, but all we really want is for you to take some lovely OLD stash and pair it with something NEW you got over the holidays... or even something that you've had for a while but haven't used yet. Sound good? Here's what I made:

Stephanie, who knows how much I LOVE narwhals, gave me this super-duper-cuuuute Whimsy Stamps' Be Unique Stamp Set which has not one, not two, but three adorable narwhals; plus a tail and a bunch of great sentiments... which I didn't use this time, lol. I colored them with my Tombows and paired them with faux polaroids, alphabet stickers and cardstock buttons from Echo Park's Sweet Day collection, circa ten-or-so years ago? (Not sure exactly how old it is but it's OLD!) I added a plaid background from Photoplay and some yellow cardstock accents and called it good. 

SOS565: Out with the Old and in with the New runs until Monday evening, January 26th. Hop over to Shopping Our Stash and join the fun!

SOS564: FREE is Good!

It's time for the last Shopping Our Stash challenge of 2025 and this time we'd like you to use something you got for free. Think: an RAK from a friend, a freebie included with an order, something you got as a door prize at a crafty event, something gifted to you because people think you can use just about anything on a card... you know: FREE!

I had to laugh when at the last sentence above, because I am SO lucky that my friends and family (and sometimes THEIR friends and family) are always showing up with a little bag or box or envelope of miscellaneous "stuff" they thought I might like... and a surprising amount of the time they are CORRECT! So I was able to make almost my whole card from such bounty, including: old sewing patterns and a phonebook from my mom; tiny sunflowers and buttons from my aunt; pieces of vintage road map from my friend Barb; part of an old, falling-apart Chinese dictionary from my friend Liz; and Hambly Transparencies and vintage Tall Corn Trading Stamps from my chosen sister, Stephanie! 

Be sure to check out the other Crew Members' cards at Shopping Our Stash. SOS564: FREE is Good! runs until the evening of Monday, January 12th.

SOS563: My Sweet Embossable You

This fortnight at Shopping Our Stash we'd like to see cards and projects that feature pressure embossing, heat embossing or both. The can be any size, shape, theme or color, just make sure they've got a bit of whatever sort of embossing you like!

I couldn't decide which kind of embossing to do, so I compromised by doing both! I stamped Wendy Vecchi's Perfect Plaid with Ranger's clear Emboss It Ink, sprinkled on their White Embossing Powder, and then blended some of my favorite green Distress Oxide shades (Twisted Citron, Cracked Pistachio and Evergreen Bough) in a sort of mirror-image ombre effect. I used Wendy's Flowers and Foliage 3D Embossing Folder (it's on sale at Spellbinders!) then tore a section to put on top. Since I had everything out for heat embossing, I embossed the big floral bouquet from the Garden Party Stamp, Die and Stencil set and colored it with coordinating (Spun Sugar, Kitsch Flamingo and Picked Raspberry) Oxides.

SOS563: My Sweet Embossable You runs until the evening of Monday, December 29th. Hop over to Shopping Our Stash to see what the rest of the Crew have made and to link up your own Embossed creation!

SOS562: Forever Young

There's a new challenge at Shopping Our Stash and this time we're making kid-themed cards. Which just happen to be one of my favorite cardmaking sub-genres, so without further ado, here's my card:

I've had MFT's Rainbows and Unicorns stamp and die set for ages, and can never resist an excuse to use it. Often I paper-piece it, but this time I was in the mood to color, so I did. I'm not sure how many pieces of Simple Stories' Puddle Jumper patterned paper I have owned, but I'm pretty confident I've never used it whole... I just like cutting out the clusters of whimsical clouds! This card is destined for a grand-niece with a January birthday, so for once I'm ahead of the game! 

Head on over to Shopping Our Stash to see the adorable young-at-heart cards our Crew have made to inspire you, then start planning your own kid-centric creation. SOS562: Forever Young runs until the evening of Monday, December 15th.

Thirty Minute Thank You Card?

The new challenge at Shopping Our Stash is called, "A Quick Thank You" and the idea is to time yourself and make a thank you card in thirty minutes or less! This is one of the hardest types of challenges for me (I am emphatically NOT a fast crafter!) but I did my best, and only cheated a tiny bit.

Full Disclosure: I didn't count the time I spent THINKING about what to make. And even with that "head start" it took me almost forty minutes to make my first card... BUT... It only took fifteen minutes to make the second one; which averages out to 27.5 minutes per card. So I'm callin' this a win. It's actually genuine win for Stash Shopping, as I used only scraps... even the backgrounds were in the offcuts file; which is part of the reason they are mini slimlines. I used my ancient Altenew Bold Alpha Dies; Hero Arts Heart Infinity Dies; plus the "you" and tiny flowers from the Essential Envelope set in Wendy Vecchi's Not Your Ordinary Card Collection. The Matte Finish Enamel Dots are from Eyelet Outlet.

SOS561: A Quick Thank You runs until the evening of Monday, December 1st. Head over to Shopping Our Stash and get inspired by the creative... and QUICK... cards our outstanding crew have made!