my Ink well

Thursday, October 15, 2026

Autumn Greetings for AAA Colourful #33

I am excited to be Guest Designer over on the AAA Colourful Blog for Colourboard #33 as Winner of Colourboard #30. The graphic immediately brought tree bark and rock striations to mind, but in the end, I went with sunflowers in my design. Sunflowers are still blooming all over the place where I live in the northeastern part of the US. They are largely of the yellow and brown variety, but I have come upon some gorgeous variations of sunflowers in the colors in the challenge graphic.

Thank you, AAA Colourful for the opportunity to Guest design for this challenge.

I'm also playing at:

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge - Anything Florals Goes with Optional Mood Board #46

Let's Chat Over Coffee

There's a new Photo Inspiration Challenge at TIME OUT.

Our challenge opens today, October 15th and runs through October 28th.

This enlargement of the photo will help you to see more detail.

In your post, please mention how the photo inspired you!

Our wonderful sponsor, STAMPlorations, is generously offering a $25.00 store credit as a prize for our Challenge Winner, who will also get an invitation to join us as Guest Designer for a future challenge.

We are joined by the incredibly talented Ashwini Rao of Experiments wWith Card Making Etc. as our Guest Designer. Ashwini has a great eye for design and has mad coloring skills! Take a stroll through her blog for some wonderful inspiration. You can see Ashwini's wonderful challenge project on the Time Out Challenge Blog.

For my card, I went with the coffee and sweet treat theme of the photo, sans the pumpkin, squash and apple. I used a sheet of The Parisian Cafe, an elegantly curated pack from STAMPlorations The Artistic Crafter's Collage Paper Anthology, Vol. 1. I framed it with Simon Says Stamp Postage Stamp Edge Frames and a sentiment from Altenew Coffee Love.

Please head on over to the Time Out Challenge Blog where you can see the fabulous projects from the Design Team to inspire you. Come play with us! We would LOVE to see you in the gallery! Before you link your project, please read our "How To Play" guidelines on the sidebar of the

Time Out Challenge Blog.

Project Details
Stamps/Dies	Altenew Coffee Love SSS Postage Stamp Edge Frames
Cardstock	SSS Fog 80lb. Neenah Solar Crest
Ink	Versafine Vintage Sepia
Embellishments
Other	STAMPlorations The Parisian Cafe Collage Paper WOW Clear Embossing Powder WOW Dual Speed Heat Tool Spellbinders Platinum Plus Scor-Pal Score Board Fiskars 12" SureCut Deluxe Craft Paper Trimmer MISTI Stamping Tool My Sweet Petunia Precision Glue Press 3M foam tape

Monday, October 5, 2026

STAMPlorations Monday 10-5-2026

It's Monday and that means it is my day to showcase my STAMPlorations projects.

Today, both of my projects feature Hello Fall Journaling Cards in two different designs.

This Hello Fall Journaling Card immediately put me in mind of the STAMPlorations Houses Clear Stamp Set and I wanted to incorporate it into my card. I decided to stamp the Kraft background with VersaFineVintage Sepia ink from the bottom of the background panel to the top, masking the various house images as I went along. I love the way that turned out. I matted the journaling card and placed it on the background panel on a slant. I finished with a stacked sentiment die cut with the the Hello Word Die.

For my second card, I used another of the Hello Fall Journaling Cards that I just love and matted it. I placed it on a white card base and added a strip on the left made with the Art Borders #2 Die (retired) backed with a strip of card stock that matched the mat I used for the journaling card. To complete my card, I added a sentiment from the Fond Expressions 2 Stamp Set and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.

Save 20% off your order by using my code at checkout:

STAMPGIRLSTEPHANIEL

I am on the STAMPlorations DT Team. Please be aware that the links above to the STAMPlorations products used in my projects are affiliated links which means that if you use them to make a purchase I will get a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Treat yourself to a visit to the STAMPlorations Blog for tons of inspiration and ideas for using these incredible paper products, stamps, dies, stencils and more for making gorgeous cards quickly and easily.

I am playing at:

With Card #1

Little Red Wagon #878 - Autumn Colors

Try It On Tuesday - Autumn's Beauty

Love Thos Pretty Papers - October 2026

With Card #2:

The Four Seasons Challenge - October 2026 - AG Fall

The Dream Factory #154 - When Fall Is Coming

Autumn Colors and/or Mushrooms

Sunday Stamps #396 - Autumn Whispers

Thursday, October 1, 2026

Pie Love You

THERE'S A NEW PICK 2 CHALLENGE AT TIME OUT.

Our challenge opens today, October 1st, and runs through October 14th.

The idea of this challenge is very simple: we give you 6 word prompts and you pick at least 2 for your project! To be clear, you can pick more than 2 or all 6 if you really want to stretch yourself, but you only must choose 2.

The prompts for Challenge #323 are:

Harvest, basket, gingham, circle, baking and apple.

In your post, please mention which words you have chosen and how they inspired you!

Our wonderful sponsor, Lawn Fawn, is generously offering a $25.00 store credit as a prize for our Challenge Winner, who will also get an invitation to join us as Guest Designer for a future challenge.

We are joined by Cathy Preissing of MARKERS, INK & PAPER, and winner of Time Out #317 as Guest Designer. Cathy is a very talented crafter with a great eye for design and who has mad coloring skills! Take a stroll through her blog for some wonderful inspiration. You can see Cathy's wonderful challenge project on the Time Out Challenge Blog.

I went with various Spellbinders Perfect Pie die and stamp sets, which several of us on the Design Team did. It's always so fun to see the reveal of Design Team projects before the challenges go live. I attenpted to put a little "sugar" on top of my pie, but it sparkles a little too much I think. In any case, you can see what I was thinking in doing that. LOL

Time Out Challenge Blog.

Project Details
Stamps/Dies	Spellbinders Perfect Pies, Perfect Pie Sentiments, and Delicious Decorations, Fluted Classic Circle Dies
Cardstock	110lb. Neenah Solar Crest 80lb. Neenah Solar Crest SSS Fog, Various Scraps
Ink	DO Inks: Lumberjack Plaid, Black Soot, PTI Kraft, VersaFine Onyx Black
Embellishments	Queen & Co Adhesive Backed Pearls
Other	Spellbinders Sun Rays A2 EF Spellbinders Platinum Plus Scor-Pal Score Board Fiskars 12" SureCut Deluxe Craft Paper Trimmer MISTI Stamping Tool My Sweet Petunia Precision Glue Press Scor-Pal Score Tape-1/4" SSS Foam Squares

I'm also playing at:

Tic Tac Toe #302

Center column: Die Cuts, Free, Embossing Wet/Dry

Can You Handle The Pressure 9/2026 - no twist

Mix It Up Challenge - AG + Optional Embossing
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - AG

Monday, September 21, 2026

STAMPlorations Monday 9/21/2026

It's Monday and that means it is my day to showcase my STAMPlorations projects. You can also view them and see more detail on the STAMPlorations Blog.

Today, both of my projects feature Newsprint Autumn Ephemera Tiles in different designs.

For my First card, I die cut the entire sheet of Newsprint Autumn Ephemera tiles with 2 of the Zen Coffee Cup Dies and mounted them on the solid Zen Coffee Cup die cut in colored cardstock. I placed them on ivory cardstock, and added some adhesive backed dots. I finished the card with a foam backed Cheers Word die cut.

For my second card, I cut the ephemera tiles into 6 individual pieces, matted them, then glued them to a kraft card front. I stamped one of the sentiments from Words Of Gratitude Clear Stamp Set with VersaFine Vintage Sepia Ink, then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder. I die cut the sentiment with a Stitched Tags Nesting Die, added some twine and popped it up atop the ephemera tiles.

Save 20% off your order by using my code at checkout:

STAMPGIRLSTEPHANIEL

Thursday, September 17, 2026

Sunflower Birthday Wishes

THERE"S A NEW INSPIRED BY CHALLENGE AT TIME OUT: Colors of the season where you live.

Our challenge opens today, September 17th, and runs through September 30th.

We are a global Challenge. In general, it is (almost) Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, and Spring in the Southern Hemisphere. In the US, weather is still summery in many places, though pumpkin season is already in play. Our challenge to you is to incorporate the colors of the season where YOU live into your project. Please explain in your post why you chose the colors you did.

We can’t wait to see where your creativity takes you. You can go anywhere you wish with your creation, as long as you are using colors of the season where you live.

Where I live, Autumn is around the corner and officially arrives next Monday, but so many summer flowers are still in bloom and the leaves have not changed color yet. There are sunflowers everywhere and that is what I chose to feature. I just love the Spellbinders Sunflower Serenade dies, and that was what I chose to be the star of my project.

Time Out Challenge Blog.

Project Details
Stamps/Dies	Spellbinders Sunflower Serenade BetterPress A Little Message Sentiments Press Plates
Cardstock	SU Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Garden Green, Chocolate Chip 110lb. Neenah Solar Crest 80lb. Neenah Solar Crest
Ink	Wild Honey, Gathered Twigs DO
Embellishments
Other	Unity Stamp Company Sunflower Meadow Embossing Folder Spellbinders Platinum Plus Scor-Pal Score Board Fiskars 12" SureCut Deluxe Craft Paper Trimmer My Sweet Petunia Precision Glue Press Scor-Pal Score Tape-1/4"

I'm also playing at:

The Card Concept #229 - Sunflower Delight

Clean and Layered, Sunflowers, Colors

TTTC301

Middle Horizontal Row - Ink Blending, Free, Leaves

The Four Seasons Challenge September 2026

The Dream Factory Challenge #154

Quand vient l'automne

Autumn colors and/or mushrooms

Monday, September 7, 2026

STAMPlorations Monday 9/7/2026

It's Monday and that means it is my day to showcase my STAMPlorations projects. You can also view them and see more detail on the STAMPlorations Blog.

Today, both of my projects feature 2 STAMPlorations products: Hello Fall Journaling Cards and Simple Expressions Stamps in 2 different designs.

My first card features one of the Hello Fall Journaling Cards with a 1/16" mat. I used the CUTplorations Circles All Over Metal Die on part of the card base to create texture. For the sentiment, I used the Simple Expressions HAPPINESS Stamp Set on the un-textured bottom of the base to complete my card.

For this Mini Slimline design, I stenciled the ivory panel with Henna Pattern Slimline Stencil, using ivory ink. I glued one of the Hello Fall Journaling Cards to the ivory panel, then added the Simple Expressions COLLECT Clear Stamps sentiment and my card was complete.