Hi There, Stampers!

Here’s the last of my Easter Cards. It’s another card that I made with leftover paper from the February 2024 Paper Pumpkin kit, Sweet Springtime. Even if you didn’t get the kit, there’s still refills left in the Stampin’ Up! Online Store (just click the underlined blue link).

Where Did Those Papers Come From?

I probably should have written this paragraph for my last article! Because it might not be clear, even to those who had the kit, which papers are included in this design.

• The Granny Apple Green floral strips on the far left and right are both from the base of the card that was designed to be a small slimline card. If I’m making a slimline card, I want it to be a good size card. So all mine are 8-1/2″ x 3-1/2″ not the tiny card that was in this kit. So I used the cardstock as if it was Designer Series Paper.
• The Petal Pink gingham strips that are in the next in from the left and right are from the back of one of the standard-sized cards in the kit. I used the front of those cards by adhering them to a plain basic white card base, which made a find card almost at it was originally designed.
• The strip in the middle is barely even Designer Series Paper weight. It’s from the inside of the envelopes made for the third design in this kit. In most (all?) Paper Pumpkin kits, if there’s a print on the inside flap of the envelope, that print goes on down to the bottom of the envelope. So there’s plenty of it! In fact, that’s one of the prints in the last card I wrote about.

The Sketch for This Card

While you may not have the Paper Pumpkin Kit or Refill, you can use any cardstock and Designer Series paper with this sketch:

Here are the masurements:

Card Base (Thick Basic White Cardstock): 5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″ folded at the top
Colored Cardstock Layer (Granny Apple Green): 5-3/8″ x 4-1/8″
Basic White Cardstock: 3-3/4″ x 4-7/8″
Strips: 1″ x 3-1/8″

Finishing the Card

When I laid the strips out, but before I added any adhesive, I decided that the white cardstock in the background was just too plain. So I texturized it using one of the embossing folders from the Basics 3D Embossing Folders. Then, after I adhered the strips to both top layers, I wrapped around a piece of Petal Pink Ribbon.  I had some retired Granny Apple Green floral embellishments that I just had to add. But any coordinating embellishments you have in your stash would work wonderfully.

Happy Stamping and Happy Easter!

Hi There, Stampers!

Today’s card is not one you’re going to be able to make with the exact papers – unless you have some left over from the February 2024 Paper Pumpkin kit OR you buy the Sweet Springtime Paper Pumpkin Refill Kit. That kit has all the papers that I used for this card as well as the card that you’ll see in my next article.

But you don’t have to use those papers to make this quick and easy card. Just use scraps you have lying around that you can cut to 1-1/8″ squares. Even a mish-mash of different designer series paper sets makes a fun crazy quilt type of card!

Love the Colors!

The colors in this card are primarily Granny Apple Green and Petal Pink. I especially liked another opportunity to use this Petal Pink Ribbon before it retires!

Here’s a Sketch

I had so much fun with this card, that I’ll be making some with other papers myself. I need a sketch because all the cards I made like this are already on their way to friends and family for Easter 2024!

Here are the masurements:

Card Base (Thick Basic White Cardstock): 8-1/2″ x 5-1/2″ folded at the left
Colored Cardstock Layer (Granny Apple Green): 4″ x 5-1/4″
Basic White Cardstock: 3-3/8″ x 4-3/4″
Squares: 1-1/8″ x 1-1/8″

That’s all there is to it!

Check out tomorrow’s post for one last Easter Card for the year – another card with scraps!

Happy Stamping!

Hi There, Stampers!

Here’s another Easter Card that I made at the last minute. But I got it in the mail for it to arrive by Easter (this year).

Yes, It’s A Cracked Egg!

Well, maybe “crack” isn’t the correct word. But it’s definitely “split.”For this card I used the largest die in the Excellent Eggs Dies using a piece of Granny Apple Green paper from the Bright & Beautiful Designer Series Paper set. (By the way – this paper set will be carried over into the new Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog. Several paper sets will. Stay tuned for more about that in a week or two.)

Now back to the die set. In the set is a long curved die and I used that to cut the egg open, so that I could set the top of the egg back to allow the bottom of the egg to hold something (well, on paper at least).

Where Did Those Daffodils Come From?

Paper Pumpkin! Yes, the daffodil bunch was one of the stamps in the set for the February 2024 Paper Pumpkin kit. I am so glad that I got this kit because those flowers are perfect for Easter time.

I colored the flowers using Daffodil Delight and Granny Apple Green Stampin’ Blends. I cut them out, using a craft knife to cut out some of the internal sections.

The zig-zag die-cut on the egg is also from the same die set. It’s really a great set and I’m going to try to get some more use out of it before it retires at the end of the current Mini Catalog.

The Rest of the Card

To jazz the card up a bit, I used the floral embossing folder from the Basics 3D Embossing Folders, on the background layer of Petal Pink Cardstock. I continued with the Petal Pink idea with the Petal Pink Ribbon from the Ribbon Duo Combo pack. That pack is in the current annual catalog, but will retire on May 1st.

I stamped the sentiment onto another piece of the Granny Apple Green designer series paper and die-cut it with the label from the Earthen Textures Dies. Unfortunately that whole set is retiring soon, too!

And to finish the card off I added a layer of the same sheet of paper from the Bright & Beautiful paper set that I used for the egg.

More Easter Cards On The Way!

Happy Stitching!

Hi There, Stampers!

While I’ve been crazily making Easter cards for my friends and family, I almost missed sharing my cards here. I know you can tell that this blog isn’t front and center with me right now. But it – and you! – are always in the back of my mind. I just need to find the time these days to spend here!

Designing the Card

So now that I’m here, let me tell you about this card. While I had the Excellent Eggs stamp set in hand, I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to do with it. I figured I’d eventually find a design from someone else and CASE (Copy And Share with Everyone) it for my cards. But I really wanted to be a bit creative one morning. I happened to have out on my work table (I still don’t put things away!) tne Lighter Than Air Designer Series Paper set. I flipped through it and saw the paper you’ll see behind the egg layers. From there I figured out my colors. But what was I going to do with them? The “aha” moment was when I thought of the sketch that I showed you in this post.

The Supplies That I Used

It’s probably a bit late for you to be trying to copy this card for this Easter. But just in case, here’s what I used for the card:

• Excellent Eggs Stamp Set (forthe sentiment)
• Excellent Eggs Dies (for the three eggs)
• Lighter Than Air Designer Series Paper (top layer on the card front AND accent on the inside of the card)
• Lemon Lolly Cardstock (bottom layer on the card)
• Stripes 3D Embossing Folder (no longer available as it’s retired)
• Fresh Freesia Cardstock (for the eggs and the card base)
• Lemon Lolly Ribbon (from the soon-to-be-retired 3/8″ Sheer Ribbon Combo Pack)

More Easter Cards on the Way!

Yes, I did make other Easter Cards. I have a few days left to show them off before the big day! Hope you enjoy them.

Happy Stamping!

Hi There, Stampers!

Here’s another take on the sketch I discussed in my last article (click HERE to check it out). As I did with my first card, I used stamps to decorate the three small rectangles on the front of the card.

St. Patty’s Day Designs

In some years I feel lucky when Stampin’ Up! includes a St. Patrick’s Day stamp set in its spring mini catalog. This year we’re not so lucky. Of course those of you who have such sets from years past have all the luck. My favorite of all time is the wood-mount rubber stamp set, Pinch Proof.  The Lucky Clover stamp set was another with some Irish hints to it. If you’ve got a big stash of Stampin’ Up! stamps, those are the two to go search for. As a demonstrator, I try to keep my stash to currently-available stamp sets so I can show you how to use what you can buy from me if you’d like.

So here’s my current stamp set that I used for my version of shamrocks – Bee My Valentine! What? Valentine’s Day has come and gone. Sure. But there’s a little heart in that set that’s just perfect for making a nice size of shamrock. And that’s what I used for this card. For the stem, I used the thin end of my Stampin’ Write marker to draw them by hand. Some are definitely better than others.

Now about the color. I let my design dictate the color I used for this card. The particular part of the design that dictated the color of the shamrocks was the ribbon. The Lost Lagoon Bordered Ribbon is the only green that I happen to have in my ribbon stash. A better color would have been Garden Green, but I’d used all of my Garden Green from the Combo Pack at Christmas time and never replaced it. Boo!

Supplies For This Card

Click on any of the links to read more about them in my online Stampin’ Up! Store.

Bee My Valentine Stamp Set (small heart)
Very Best Occasions Stamp Set (for the sentiment)
Bright & Beautiful Designer Series Paper – the Lost Lagoon ombre print
Pretty Peacock Cardstock
Basic White Thick Cardstock
Basic White Cardstock
Lost Lagoon Bordered Ribbon
Pretty Peacock Foiled Gems 

Still More Cards With This Sketch

I mentioned in my last article that I spent a weekend working on cards using the sketch with three elements. So, as you might imagine, there are still more to come! I’ll post about these next week.

Happy Stamping!

Hi There, Stampers!

It’s the day after Presidents Day 2024, and I have to tell you I had a lot of fun over the long weekend designing and making some cards. What I wanted to do was to find a sketch I’d used in the past and make several cards using that sketch just to show that a single sketch can be used in many ways. I made FOUR cards with just this one sketch. Today’s card is the last of the four.

Just because this card is the last of the four doesn’t mean it’s not my favorite. My husband’s Aunt shares a birthday with me, and I wanted to make a card just for her. I hadn’t intended to use the sketch I was working on. But then there was this lovely birthday cake from the Hooray for Surprises Stamp Set that I’ve been dying to use. And it was perfect for this sketch.

Oh, and my husband’s aunt isn’t just “special.” She’s the only aunt that either of us has left in our lives. So she’s REALLY special!

The Sketch

Here’s the sketch that I found from four years ago. My original idea was that there would be colorful stamps on each of the three small rectangular elements on the card front. But as I was working on cards using it this weekend, I realized that having punched or die-cut elements would work as well as stamps. Today’s card, though, definitely uses stamps.

For this kind of a layout where I like to tie a ribbon around the top layers, I use a full layer of the cardstock that shows on the bottom to create a stable layer for tying the ribbon. If, instead of tying a ribbon, you use a strip of cardstock to “divide” the card, you could just cut the bottom peice at 5-1/4″ x 1-1/2″.

And the Measurements

Here are the measurements for each of the layers on this card:

The Card Base Cardstock: 5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″, folded at the top.
Designer Series Paper: 5-1/4″ x 2-3/4″
Coordinating Cardstock: 5-1/4″ x 4″ (see note above)
Three small rectangles, usually Basic White Cardstock: 1-1/2″ x 2-1/2″ each
Scrap of Basic White Cardstock (for sentiment): Cut to fit sentiment
Ribbon: 18″ to 24″, depending on whether you’re finishing with a knot or a bow.

Supplies for today’s Featured Card

Click on any of the links to read more about them in my online Stampin’ Up! Store.

Hooray for Surprises Stamp Set
Berry Burst Cardstock (Card Base)
Azure Afternoon Cardstock (Coordinating)
Masterfully Made Designer Series Paper
Azure Afternoon Ribbon from the 3/8″ Sheer Ribbon Combo Pack
Azure Afternoon Ink
Berry Burst Ink
Daffodil Delight Ink

More Card Samples Using This Sketch

Check back later this week for some more samples of cards made using this sketch. If you make any, let me know. I’d love to share them here on my blog!

Hi, There, Stampers!

It’s Sunday, February 11, 2024, as I write this. So this really is last minute when it comes to Valentine Cards. But I can assure you that this card really is fun and easy. It didn’t take me much time at all to make over a dozen of them. Now, I’m not suggesting that you need a dozen at this late hour. But if it’s just one or two, you’re in for a treat.

Choose Your Supplies First

Before I give you the measurements, go find a piece of Designer Series Paper you’d like to use and then choose two colors of cardstock that go with the designs in that paper. It’s nice if one color is somewhat lighter than the other. If your paper only has one color, do as I did and choose Basic White Cardstock for that light color. You’ll need some Basic White Cardstock for the inside anyway!

Then choose a sentiment that will fit in a space that’s 3/4″ high by no more than about 3-1/2″ wide and a design to stamp on your closing element. And then choose ink for stamping

Finally, choose a punch or die to create the element to “close” the card.

Now the Supplies (my colors in parentheses)

• The darker color cardstock (Flirty Flamingo): 5-1/2″ x 7-3/4″; score the longer side at 1-3/4″ and 6″; plus large scrap for punching or die-cutting
• The lighter color cardstock (Basic White): 2 pieces each 5-1/4″ x 1-1/2″
• Designer Series Paper (Most Adored Specialty paper from Sale-a-bration Brochure): 2 pieces, 5″ x 1-1/4″
• Basic White or Very Vanilla Cardstock (Basic White) for Inside: 5-1/4″ x 4″
• Stamp Set (Country Bouquet)
• Classic Ink Pad (Real Red)
• Punch or Die (2″ Circle Punch)
• Bone Folder
• Adhesives

I also used an embossing folder (Timeworn Type) for the background of my punched element.

Finally the Directions

You could probably just look at the picture above and figure this out with no sweat. But just in case, here are the directions:

1. Fold the darker cardstock on the score lines to the center of the card and burnish with a bone folder. There will be a 3/4″ space open to the inside of the card.
2. Adhere the lighter cardstock strips onto the outside of each short end of the darker cardstock. Then adhere the strips of Designer Series Paper to the lighter cardstock.
3. Create your closing element and adhere the top of it to to the right side of the bottom of the top short end of the card.
4. Adhere the Basic White Cardstock to the inside of the card.
5. Close the short ends of the card and stamp the sentiment (I used Happy Valentine’s Day) on the inside Basic White Cardstock to the left of the closing element. To keep the ends down while I was stamping, I laid my paper snips over the right side of the card where the closing element was.
6. Sign the inside of the card, put it in an addressed envelope, and you’re done!

I just thought of one more card that I need and I’m off to make another one of these now! Have fun with yours!!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Hi, There, Stampers!

Today I’ve got another “oldie-but-goodie” fun fold card for you. I’ve seen it with several names over the years. But my favorite is, “Double Dutch Door.” It’s “double” because this card has two folds: There’s a top flap fold and a bottom gate fold. But it’s not a difficult card to make at all! In fact, for today’s article, I made three completely different cards – different papers, different cardstock and different themes (well, two different themes).

One of the fun things for me about today’s project was that I got to use lots of brand new products to make them. My favorite new products are always Designer Series Papers because there’s so much you can do with them. But there’s a punch, a die set, and and embossing folder that I got to use that are also new – and fun to use!

New products are around because this is the first month of both the Stampin’ Up! January – April 2024 Mini Catalog and the first month of Stampin’ Up!’s 2024 Sale-a-bration, which only lasts until the end of next month. If you buy a few of the products from the Mini Catalog, you’ll definitely spend enough to earn at least one Sale-a-bration product for FREE!

My Sample Cards and Link to Project Sheet!

Here are both the outside and the inside of all three cards that I made:

I made this card using products from the Bee Mine Suite in the Mini Catalog.

This is another Valentine Card I made using the Most Adored Designer Series Paper from the current Sale-a-bration Brochure. When you spend at last $50 for your Stampin’ Up! products, this is one of the products that you can choose FOR FREE!

The final card is one that I made using the Forever Love Designer Series Paper and a more somber combination of Moody Mauve and

Click HERE to get a copy of the project sheet for the Double Dutch Fun Fold Card!

Hi There, Stampers!

I made today’s card based on a challenge in one of my online Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator groups. The challenge was the fun fold, not the paper. But the paper just seemed to go perfectly with the fold. These darling birds are on several of the prints in the Stampin’ Up! 2024 Sale-a-bration Brochure. A quick note about what Sale-a-bration (SAB for short) is.

• It’s an annual 2-month promotion by Stampin’ Up! This year it’s from January 4th to February 29th.
• During the promotion, for every $50 or $100 you spend on Stampin’ Up! products you get to choose a FREE product that’s in the SAB Brochure.
• Some products require only a $50 purchase to get the FREE item. Others require a $100 purchase. But you can mix and match what you get for FREE depending on how much you order from Stampin’ Up! For example, if you spend $250, you can get five of the $50 items; or two $100 and one $50; or one $100 and three $50. And you can choose more than one of any item if you wish.
• When you order online from me, you’ll be prompted to choose the items you want. If you call me with your order, I can take care of it for you.

Now About the Paper

The Designer Paper that I used in this card is called, Flight and Airy. It’s one of the products you can get FREE for a $50 Stampin’ Up! purchase. It’s another one of Stampin’ Up!’s paper sets that I already have used enough to get a second pack. The birds come in different sizes and configurations. And the backs of the papers have lovely colors, too. This card shows both the front and the back of one sheet. I’m sure I’ll be taking photos of some other cards using other prints fromt this set that I make over the SAB period.

The Fun Fold Design

This fun fold doesn’t even need a tutorial.

Cut a Card Base 5 ½” x 4 ¼” of cardstock. I used Boho Blue, which is one of the colors in the Designer Paper. Cut the Designer Paper 12” x 4” and score at 5 ¼” and 10”. Be careful scoring Designer Paper as it’s thinner than cardstock. Don’t press too hard! Also watch how the design on the paper runs before cutting your strip. Adhere the 5 ¼” x 4” section to the Card Base. Fold the 2″ section back onto the front of the Designer Paper and adhere it using adhesive of your choice. Add 4” x 4” piece of cardstock inside for a note and signature. Decorate the folded-back section as you wish.

If you try it out, let me know!

Happy Stamping!

Hi There, Stampers!

It wasn’t that long ago that a stamp set called, “Lots of Lavender,” was a Stampin’ Up! Sale-a-bration item. Now here we are in the middle of the annual Sale-a-bration event, and we have Lavender again! But this time it’s not simply a Sale-a-bration stamp set. It’s a whole suite, called, Perennial Lavender, and it’s in the current January – April Mini Catalog. The suite includes a Stamp Set, Designer Paper, paper Butterflies, and Shimmer Gems. There are actually two stamp sets in the Suite. One is full of floral elements and the other is full of sentiments. Oh, and there are dies! I really couldn’t ask for more!

The Side-Step Card – And a Tutorial

There is more than one way to create a side-step card. I like the pattern that I used today because it’s so easy. And easy is good for me these days when I don’t have as much time for card making as I used to. I have the measurements and instructions for the basic card here.

One question I’ve been asked is, “Where do I put my message?” The answer is, “On the back!” The white cardstock on the back is 3″ x 4″ which is enough room for a short note. You could even stamp a sentiment on the back and just sign the card if you wished. This is not the only fun fold card design that doesn’t have much in the way of a place to write. When I send a card, I usually have more to write than the card holds, no matter what size it is. Then I simply write my note – letter? – on plain copy paper and fold it in fourths and include it in the envelope.

That Luscious Paper!

I have to tell you that I’m already on my second pack of Perennial Lavender Paper, the Designer Series Paper that complements the stamp sets. I initially wanted to use different prints for this card. But I was all out of them!

But don’t worry – I’ve got other papers that I’m using right now and I’ll be sharing them with you. Oooh, and a bunch of them are free during Sale-a-bration. More about that next time!

Happy Stamping!