cards

lavenderhousecreations

Happy Fall

The latest 3-2-1 recipe is all about Fall here at Double Trouble. use 3 colours from Combo Wheel #3, a 2 worded sentiment, and 1 autumn image. Thing 3 – Twisted Sister has the opt of adding pumpkins, Gourds and/or other harvest fruits and vegetables. And thing 2 is a Double Dare Opt: use the TSOT sketch #705 and enter your card there as well. Be aware of the backlinking rule. My card fits the sketch but cannot be entered.

As you can see I followed the sketch using strips of colour from my scrap pile. Once these were glued I used a YNS stamp and added colour after heat embossing the edges so they wouldn’t bleed. Initially I used pencils, but I wasn’t happy so I added Spectrum Noir markers over the top. I had seen a red squirrel photo, but no matter what I did, my colouring skills couldn’t recreate it. Sentiment is from the same set and I heat embossed it in gold. The tiny leaves and acorns are also from YNS as they came from a background plate. The pumpkin is from a GKD set and I fussy cut around it and did the same with the squirrel image. I scattered the leaves and then glued them where they fell except for in front of the pumpkin and along the right edge. These were placed. Oh and by the way, an acorn is considered a fruit according to my research.

Its a shame that so many red squirrels have been lost due to the introduction of the gray ones. In the U.K. I don’t believe there are any left at all, but here we do see one or two very small ones occasionally. We also have black ones. They are so brazen and the dog has made it her mission to get them away from the bird feeder if she can.

We look forward to seeing your creations in the gallery and hope you have a lot of fun creating. Thanks for stopping by, your time is appreciated.

lavenderhousecreations

Fall Birthday

My mojo is still not back 100%, but I’m managing a few cards here and there. The latest challenge at Seize the Birthday #335-Use Fall Colors and this is my initial effort. I’m not totally happy with it, however it isn’t a bad card, just one that I don’t consider inspired. The card also fits the new challenge at Allsorts, challenge #859 Anything Autumn.

Using some textured card stock I cut it to size and added it to the white note card. Then using another white CS and an unbranded stitched die I cut the top layer. I’ve always loved the skeleton leaves from an incentive set by GKD and pull them out at least once per year since I got them. To showcase them this time, I found a Taylored Expressions hexagon stencil and with Distress Oxide ink I sponged 3 shapes to the layer. Then I stamped the leaves on top of each using Walnut stain ink. The sentiment strip is from Open Studio. I felt the card was missing something and in retrospect it may have been a good idea to do some splatter here and there. However, at the time I didn’t think of it and went searching for some embellishments I could use. I found these tiny paper flowers that I’ve had for so long I’m surprised they haven’t fallen apart. I glued the two colour sections together and then used some Pops of Color for the centers. Once dry I added them as you see.

After a two days of consistent and much needed rain, today was once again dry and sunny for the most part. My hubby took me out to lunch and we also went for a nice walk with our dog. Our fall colours are quite pretty, although nothing like what the east coast will see as they move into the cooler weather.

Thanks for stopping by, you are appreciated in a big way.

lavenderhousecreations

Shake it Up!

In general, making a shaker card isn’t something I do very often as I find them difficult. However, I had some pretty digital images given to me and I wanted to find a use for them. What I did was print them onto some CS that my printer can handle and fussy cut them. The heart aperture I already had because I had die cut a stamped image for another card. The image behind the aperture is from the same gifted digital images and I cut it to a size that fit behind the aperture. To add the shaker elements I used some packaging and made it smaller so I could fill it with the rest.

I backed the layer with foam tape after I had added the shaker pouch. The fussy cut pieces were added at 2 corners, and I stamped the sentiment on an angle. I’m sorry but I’ve forgotten which stamp set it came from as I put it away after using it. The tiny hearts are from Altenew. Once the top layer was put together I added it to a white note card.

The card was made a few days ago, but I didn’t have time to post it until now. I looked at a few challenges and think it fits at The Sisterhood of Crafters – September 2026 – Frame It and also it is a 2nd entry into Double D – pretty in pink.

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you and your time.

lavenderhousecreations

From me to You

Double D’s latest challenge mood board is all about pink and a stamping friend of mine mentioned a brand new challenge blog called Heart’s Quest and they too have a mostly pink challenge happening. I decided that my card fits both so I managed a twofer.

I wanted to play with my newest stamp/die set from Craft Addition UK as I had only used one of the stamps so far. I really liked the floral heart and decided to start with that and see how my thinking evolved. I chose a Distress Oxide ink Victorian Velvet and stamped it after which I used clear embossing and heat set it. When it was fully dry I used the matching die and cut it. Setting it aside I decided to use another of the Quacker stamps, stamped, heat set and die cut. Using pencils I added some colour keeping to the pink theme. It’s art, so who says a duck has to be white? I knew I would be popping up the duck so I added foam tape and set it aside for a few minutes more.

My card front is a pink from GKD and I remembered I still had some StampinUP DSP that looked marbled in different colours and this piece was one of them. I used the less marbled effect to keep the soft look as a background. The other side is lovely too but a but too busy for this card. Once I had glued the DSP to the card front I played a moment with placement before adding the other elements. It needed a sentiment and I thought this one was perfect and it helps to ground my quacker too. A few pink Pops of Color and the card was done. I guess you could say this card is an almost CAS style. I quite like how this one has turned out, although perhaps adding a bit more than just pink may have given it a little more Oomph as my hubby likes to say.

Thanks a lot for stopping by, I appreciate that you take the time to look.

lavenderhousecreations

Masculine Card

I’m not sure where my mojo is, but it definitely isn’t around at the moment. It took me forever to decide on a card for the challenge at As You See It and as many of you know, it is one of my favourite challenge sites. The current one is about colour, Challenge #381 – High Tech Handsomeness and here is my effort. And because I’ve used a folder I am entering it as a second card at CYHYP Anything Goes With A Twist of Cloudy Day . Twist not taken.

Even though I like the colours and the image that was part of the inspiration it took me some time to decide what to do. I started with the folder which is by Sizzix called Mechanics Texture Fades. I chose the slate gray CS and embossed it then went over the raised parts with a blue ink cube. My card base is basic gray so the layer was cut down to allow the darker gray to show up as a frame. I actually got this layer on straight for a change. I remembered that I had a stamp/die set that is an unbranded set. After stamping the truck I stamped the packages, heat embossed them, then die cutting after they were coloured. Prisma pencils were used to colour. These unbranded sets are useful but not fantastic and in the one I have there is a fault in the die for the parcels. As well the stamps are so soft that one has to be careful to get a decent impression.

Once I had everything coloured and put together I added foam tape behind for dimension, looked for some PP that allowed me to ground the truck and added it to the 3D layer. I wasn’t sure about a sentiment but in looking for the PP I also found some sentiment strips from Idea-ology so I chose one of those and added it at the bottom.

We had a massive and violent lightning storm right overhead a few weekends ago. It lasted 6 hours and hit one of the transformers on a pole that brought power to 5 houses. It was an almighty bang and almost made us fall out of bed with shock at the noise. Of course everything went dark and we waited for our generator to kick in. Sadly it didn’t, because the lightning also took out the control panel on the generator. Fortunately we have surge protectors on our panel and we had turned off the computers and other electronics as a precaution. We’ve been dealing with the aftermath ever since as so many little things no longer work. I have two kitchen appliances not working, our ventilation system control panel has to be replaced, a roof exhaust fan is also broken and many LED light bulbs just gave out. Now that we have quotes on most of it we’ve started an insurance claim. Just the generator alone is a $2,000 repair. We would have preferred not to claim but we are now way over the deductible and after speaking with the company the adjuster agrees that it is necessary and likely to be covered. We consider ourselves lucky as it could have been so much worse. One of our neighbors had a power bar start to smoke and burn and it freaked me out because if she hadn’t been awake to find it her house might have burned down. I guess this saga is the reason my mojo is a bit lacking. Anyone denying climate change needs to start rethinking in my humble opinion.

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you, your time and any comments you may leave.

lavenderhousecreations

Sweet Surprise

Welcome to challenge #225 with the 3-2-1 recipe “Sweet Surprise” here at Double Trouble. You need 3 layers (card base does not count), 2 images (stamps, dies or Ephemera) 1 aperture any shape. Thing 3 from our Twisted Sister opt is to fill in the aperture with an image and/or make a shaker filled with sprinkled bits. Thing s2 is a Double Dare opt to use the TSOT sketch #704 and enter at TSOT. Beware of the backlinking rules.

My card is 5.25′ square, the Patterned layer is 4.25″ square and I used a new Craft Addiction UK die set to cut this piece giving me the scalloped edge aperture in the middle. I added a white embossed piece behind. The EF is from StampinUP. My cake is from a die set by Memory Box and I used paper scraps for this. The floral sprig is made from felt and was something I forgot I had but found when looking for something else. The patterned paper is from a pad by Crafter’s Companion. I wanted candles on the cake but didn’t have anything small enough so I used some sprinkles and added a pop of color dot at the top for a flame. I’m not big on making shaker cards and didn’t feel up to doing one for this challenge.

For now I am not adding a sentiment and my card isn’t a true reflection of the sketch but comes close. With the PP, embossed layer and the cake stack I have 4 layers, the cake and the floral sprig make 2 images and the aperture is evident so the recipe is complete. Now it is your turn and I’m sure you will do some very creative work using this recipe. Above all have fun creating.

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you and your time.

lavenderhousecreations

Interactive Double Slider

closed card front
sliders open

Welcome to Cardz4galz challenge #284, as chosen by Jill, who is asking for an interactive kinetic card. I chose to do a double slider and used a tutorial from Purple Girl crafts, found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLP65jOX-Nw. I’ve never done one before so I thought it time to challenge myself a little.

Although I followed the tutorial as best as possible, I did have a few issues and had to make some adjustments here and there. And like on the tutorial my sentiment layer should be slightly smaller so that both layers can be seen a little better. That said, I’m not too displeased with the end result and should I make another I know what to do next time.

Having acquired a few funny stickers, I decided to use one for my card front and pulled out paper pertaining to coffee. The sticker was adhered to a leftover piece which had been die cut using an unbranded set. My sentiment comes from an old GKD set as do the coffee beans and the images on the back slider layer. I heat embossed everything. I also used a small Pull stamp from a little used set I’ve had for some time, but I’m not sure who made it. I added the word Pull to another small circle, heat embossed it and glued in place covering up the back with another circle.

Now it’s your turn and we look forward to seeing your interactive cards in our gallery. Have fun creating! Many thanks for stopping by, you and your time is appreciated.

lavenderhousecreations

Bzzzzz

This card fits two challenges and even includes the optional twist on one of them. As You See It Challenge #380 – Quadrants and CYHTP (8/2026) Anything Goes with a Twist of BEES.

I started with a piece of fairly heavy CS and an EF from Sizzix called Foliage. Its an old favourite of mine. Once I had the impression I chose two ink cubes, one in yellow and one black and swiped ink over the raised parts. Then I cut it into 2″ squares and added it to a mat gold background. All this was then added to the card front. My arithmetic is hopeless and I didn’t quite get the sizing correct so the card was cut down a 1/4 inch to make it work.

Using an unbranded Dollar store stamp set I chose the two bees and the honeycomb stamps along with the sentiment. I fussy cut them all except for the sentiment square which was done with a Memory Box die. I did round the corners using a punch. I added colour to the bees with a pencil and used a silvery glitter Sakura pen for the wings. The smaller bee is glued flat but the honeycomb and larger bee are each popped up with foam tape.

I recently came across a site that collects cards for cancer and they are slowly gaining traction province by province. I joined the group and so far I’ve donated about 30 cards. As they are now located in my own province I am aiming to add quite a few more. As a cancer survivor it seems like a worthy cause to me and it is one way I can support others. In general I’m not a person who volunteers so being able to do something nice right from home works great for me. There is apparently a sister site in the USA, so anyone interested should message me and I’ll send info if requested.

Thanks for stopping by, you, your time and any comments you may leave are always appreciated. We have house guests arriving for a few days on Sunday, so I probably won’t have time for the computer or my craft room until later in the week.

lavenderhousecreations

For the Artist in You!

A speed challenge always ensures the adrenaline is way up and for me it is also when I become the most clumsy. That said, I still managed to come up with a design and decent, if not truly creative, end result. This one was completed in 8 minutes and 10 seconds. As You See It – Challenge #379 – Hastened Handicrafts speed challenge has a theme of anything crafty.

I pulled out two stamp sets, one from Amazon Globeland and the other GKD which is where my sentiment came from. As well I pulled the larger arch die from a slatted die set by Craft Addictions UK. I used the stitched outline along with the arch but didn’t use the slatted piece here. I also used a homemade, gifted to me, stencil in yellow and orange. I did think about fussy cutting the images, but realized that my time would be affected too much.

Of course the fumbling started as soon as I started the clock and even though I used some tape to hold it, the die slipped slightly during the cutting leaving a sharp edge at the curve. I tried returning it to the die and running through again unsuccessfully, so I used scissors, which made it better but not perfect. Using the stencil and pre inked sponges I added the dots randomly. Then I stamped the images and sentiment on top. I forgot that the dots would show through the images (silly me) so now I’m definitely not happy and no time to correct. My solution was to use Prisma pencils and colour in the paint box and brush holder. This worked and for good measure I took some Sakura glitter pens in various colours and added colour to the paint pots. I already had the dark Teal card base ready but I took time to cut the burgundy PP and glued it as you see before adding the shaped piece on top. I completely forgot about adding an embellishment until after I stopped the clock and likely I will add one or two before I use the card.

Many thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you and your time.

lavenderhousecreations

Leaf Wishes

The challenge at Color Hues is #138-Navy and Teal and I wasn’t sure if I had any ideas for it. However, a book I’ve been reading, had a very interesting and pretty cover and it set off an idea for something with stripes. This is what I ended up with.

My first step was to create the stripes and this is my second attempt as the first one was not what I wanted. I used Gina’s masking magic strips and my glass mat for getting them onto the card stock straight. Then I used Chipped Sapphire and a sponge to do the navy stripes. When they were done and dry I moved the masks so I could add the Peacock Feathers ink. While this was drying I looked through my stamps and found this set by SSS that includes dies as I wasn’t in the mood to fussy cut anything. I stamped them using Chipped Sapphire and then used clear heat embossing to set it. Using a several water colour pencils, I added colour using a darker teal and a lighter one, along with navy. While they were drying I added VersaMark ink using a fine tip brush and the liquid and doing 2 stripes at a time added clear heat embossing to give it the shine I wanted. This took enough time that the stamped pieces dried well so I die cut them and then added VersaMark onto a few leaves and clear heat embossed those as well. The teal stripes have a subtle shine as I used some Perfect Pearls powder on those. The sentiment is from Open Studio.

In thinking about the process I took to get this result, I’ve realized that I could have added VersaMark using the ink pad before I moved the masking strips, but as with so many things hind sight is always 20/20.

We’ve actually had some rain earlier today which is a relief because it is scary to see how dry things are. The fires in the Okanagan are very bad and so many communities are affected. In my thoughts I tried to send the rain to them, but we don’t have control over the weather unfortunately. It is depressing to see how many people have lost everything, but there are also stories of hope and heroes too. Other countries have sent crews to help which allows some of ours to get some rest and recharge their batteries.

My I-phone is giving me some issues since a recent update and the photo is way darker than the card looks in real life. It is a very strong card, but I like it and my hubby liked it too.

I’m off to finish some laundry now that the painters have moved to another section of the house. We are having some areas redone with the hallway to the laundry room being one section. It looks nice but I couldn’t get to my machines easily. Many thanks for stopping by, I really appreciate it.