It won’t be long before the Cherry Blossoms begin to bloom in the eastern US. I love seeing pictures of these gorgeous trees, but I have not yet seen them in person.

Today’s card features the Papertrey Ink Into the Blooms: Cherry Blossoms die set. I cut the flowers from white and several shades of coral and peach cardstock. I also inked the edges of the white pieces with a delicate colored ink from Concord & 9th called Nectar.

I created the cloud background using a homemade stencil I created many years ago plus Tumbled Glass Distress Ink.

The Simon Says Stamp Celebrate sentiment is fantastic for so many different occasions.

Okay, I couldn't resist that title. This card was designed for a couple who bought a mountain home. Sadly, I'm not certain if they ever received it. It might have been lost in the mail. I did, at least, get photos.

The 3D envelope die is a favorite of mine, made by Creekbank Creations. They have some really unique designs and I find their booths at Scrapbooking conventions. The trees are all dies by Poppystamps. I can't remember where the banner die is from. The sun is simply a circle punch, about 1". The mountains were all from a mix of SVGs on my Cameo Silhouette. And the river is hand cut by me. Most all the cardstock is from Stampin' Up! 

I am entering this at The Cut It Up Challenges blog for Challenge #350, where the theme is By the Sea, featuring a body of water. I'm also entering at the Alphabet Challenge V is for Volume. 

I'm not sure what it is about Valentine's Day, but it seems to inspire me more than other holidays. It's not my favorite holiday. I don't decorate the house for Valentine's anymore. But I think I just love all the shades of pink, red and lavender that the season inspires. 

I was also inspired by the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, especially this one featuring Tim Holtz products and "not a card." I just finished making a mixed media project for my new grandson's room that is made using stained embroidery hoops like shadowboxes. It was fun (and a LOT of fussy cutting). I will show you that soon. 

I was thinking of a not-a-card project I could make and I noticed some beautiful paint chips sitting on my desk. They were just something I picked up at the paint store when we were looking for tan colors for my husband's office. 

I thought of love bugs and Valentine's Day and then I was off the to races. Here is what I put into this card: 

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Backdrops Vol 4 and Vol 5; Tim Holtz Kraft Stock Metallic Classics; Letters were cut from Distress Heavystock Kraft stained with Frayed Burlap Distress Spray Stain; Tim Holtz Funky Bugs dies #665364; Tim Holtz Seal die and Switchlit Embossing Folder #665379, Tim Holtz Alphanumeric Tiny Type Lower #664407; Tim Holtz Funky Nordic (heart) #665576; Tim Holtz Idea-ology Cello Sticker Tape, Tim Holtz Idea-ology Ephemera Pack Field Notes Snippets; Tim Holtz Idea-ology Mini Paper Clips. I am not sure which Tim Holtz Ephemera pack includes the Private Collection/Specimens label.

I inked most every edge with Pumice Stone Distress Ink. I splatted the backdrop and edged the seal with Distressed Mica Stain in Tarnished Brass. I used Distress Crackle Paste around the edge of the hoop and then rubbed in Walnut Stain Distress Crayon. 

Stained embroidery hoop from Amazon. Burlap, cheesecloth, gold thread, and ribbon from my stash. Circle die was from Trinity Stamps Circles Set A. I used both foam and foam adhesive to pop things up. 

I am entering the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, the Fab n Funky Challenges #630, Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, and the Try It On Tuesday Challenge.

Thanks for checking out my blog. Take a minute to see my makes on Instagram too. I am @tinypaperblossom. 

Well, here we are after all this time. 2026 is starting off with a bang and bucket list items. I attended the 2026 Rose Parade in Pasadena, CA (lots of rain and lots of fun). And on January 19, I became a grandmother for the first time to a little baby boy. I feel like I've already had a full year!

I had fun over the past 6 weeks working on 3 different Valentine designs. 

The first is a CASE of a Tammy C. Wilson card. It features a retired stamp and die set by Stampin' Up called Sweet Conversations and Sweet Hearts, respectively. I used an old woodgrain 2D Sizzix embossing folder. Ink is Wisteria Wonder, Sweet Sugarplum, and Versamark. Embossing Powder is the wonderful Brutus Monroe Alabaster. Patterned paper was also retired from Stampin' Up! The splatter pattern was made with a spatter stamp from MFT. Cardstock is SU's Wisteria Wonder, Sweet Sugarplum (both retired) and Rich Razzleberry. Embellishments are from my stash.

The next card features a Honey Bee Stamps 3D embossing folder called Spring Medley. I used Pinkfresh Studio's Shaker Hearts dies, their Breezy Blossoms stamp, die and stencil sets, and their All Kinds of Wonderful stamp and die set for the sentiment. Inks I wasn't so good about keeping up with. I know I used Concord & 9th's Nectar and Grapefruit and then I used an orangish-red ink for the darkest color. The greens are very blue-green inks such as Distress Evergreen Bough. I used my handy color wheel to pick the greens and I was not disappointed. 

The last card features the super cute Simon Says Stamp die set called Mail Call along with Taylored Expression's Papaya cardstock and Stampin' Up's Pretty Peacock. The sentiment is computer generated. The background uses Waffle Flower Love Postage Collage stamps along with the original WF Postage Collage stamps, all stamped with Concord & 9th's Powder dye ink. The arch dies are Spellbinder's Essential Arches. (Can you tell how much I like the coral-teal color combos?)

I am entering the Just Add Ink Challenge, the Cut It Up challenge, and the Alphabet Challenge.

Today's card uses a fantastic set I stumbled upon at Simon Says Stamp. It is called Fantastic Flowers and when I purchased it (on sale!) it came with stamps, dies AND a stencil set. Now, that's winning. Currently only the stencils and dies are available. I've been watching oodles of Jennifer McGuire videos and she's done so much ink blending through stencils that the technique called my name. 

I first stamped the palm frond stem in Versamark on Hammermill 80lb white cardstock (later I glued this to a 110lb Neenah Solar White Classic Crest piece after they were both die cut - gave it some real heft). I also stamped the Happy Birthday from Simon Says Stamp's Circle Sayings Stamp set in Versamark. I used my Ink on Three Gold Rush gold embossing powder (five stars, highly recommend) to heat emboss both images. Next, I put down the stencil and blended Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Picked Raspberry, Seedless Preserves, Wilted Violet, Faded Jeans and Chipped Sapphire together. I was thrilled with the results and I know I will make more because it was so fun. (A thanks to Cathy Zielske or I would never have thought to do the stem before the stenciling but it worked perfectly). 

I used the matching die to cut the stenciled image and a "shadow" from Stampin' Up's Berry Burst cardstock. I glued both these down onto 110lb Neenah cardstock. I die cut the circle saying with a circle die from Trinity Stamps and popped it up with some foam tape. The wonderful hole-free sequins are in a brushed gold and from Spellbinders. Pretty simple card that was really fun to make.

I'm going to enter this at Paper Players Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge PP731. I think it meets the criteria of sentiment, lavender, and glitter. 

I hope to get back here with more cards but I know I will post more on my Instagram too. Thanks for reading this and happy crafting.