Handmade masculine cards are the ones I hear people struggle with the most. And I put myself in that group too! I’m always looking for a good masculine themed stamp set and fun patterned paper. So I was excited when I saw the Trusty Toolbox Designer Series Paper in the Sale-a-bration catalogue. And with this card design I’m able to make 3 cards at once!
To make it I pulled 3 different designs and cut them each into 4″ x 5 1/4″ pieces. Then I cut each design into 3 pieces. I didn’t measure exactly, but you don’t really need to. You just need to get close. Then I mixed and matched the 3 different designs so that each card has a Real Red, Crushed Curry and Lost Lagoon design.
Once I stuck them to the Gray Granite card bases, I fussy cut a few of the tools. Thankfully they’re pretty easy to do that with. But you can use the Trusty Tools dies for some of them instead if that’s easier.
Then to build up my stash of handmade masculine cards I used 3 different sentiments from the He’s All That stamp set. I stamped them with Gray Granite ink. And then I die cut them with the coordinating dies and popped them up with a mix of Stampin’ Dimensionals and the minis.
I totally forgot about the Brushed Metallic Dots. Those would look great if you like to add a little bling to your handmade masculine cards!
Check out another card I made using the He’s All That stamp set here.
It’s time for another team card swap! And even though there’s two catalogues right now, for this swap we’re focusing on the January-April Mini Catalogue. So for my card design I’m suing the Hooray for Surprises bundle. I’m excited to make some fun cards with these dies. But for the swap I’m keeping it simple!
I’m using Basic White cardstock for my card base. But this card base is a little different. I cut the cardstock so that the front panel doesn’t line up with the back panel. Then for my colours, I pulled from the Bee Mine Designer Series Paper pack. I like the design with the small flowers because it matches one of the images in the stamp set. So from this design I decided to use Pool Party as my ink colour.
Next I stamped a sentiment in the bottom right hand corner of the “inside” of the card. This way no matter whether the card is open or closed you can see it. Then I stamped the heart with the flowers in it and die cut it. To attach it to the front/outside panel, I added a couple of Stampin’ Dimensionals to one side of the heart. Just make sure you double check which side you put them on. You don’t want to accidentally get it stuck to the inside of the card. Then to finish it off I added a couple Brushed Brass Butterflies.
I’ll share some of the cards I got from m team here and on my socials (Facebook and Instagram). So stay tuned!
In the meantime, check out a simpke birthday card I made using the Hooray for Surprises stamp set here.
Purple is one of my favourite colours. And I love to plant lavender in my garden. So it won’t surprise you when I say that I love the Lovely Lavender Paper Pumpkin kit. The card designs are so pretty! And you can use these cards for a number of different occasions… Valentine’s Day, weddings, anniversaries or even just because.
So far I’ve made two alternative card designs. The first is a shaker card, I love making shaker cards! And it was pretty easy to do. I used some Crumb Cake cardstock for my card base along with one of the kit card fronts. Then I just added a piece of Window Sheet and a bunch of the Iridescent Shaker Circles.
For my other design, I took some inkspiration from a couple of the alternative projects on the back of the instructions. I used one of the brown card bases along with the Gorgeous Grape half of another to start. Then I layered a square die cut with purple foil and created a bouquet of lavender that I tied with a little bit of burlap ribbon. I also added one of the Paper Butterfly Accents from the January-April Mini catalogue and a couple of pieces I die cut using the add-on dies. Then to finish it off I added a few of the Purple Fine Shimmer Gems which are also from the mini catalogue.
This one is my favourite I think. Check out my Facebook page to see how I made both of these cards.
And if you missed out on the Lovely Lavender Paper Pumpkin kit, don’t worry. You can still get this month’s kit Sweet Springtime. Just sign up before February 10th. Once you’re signed up you can get past kits and refills.
pp kit
You can also check out the alternate projects I made using the All the Best Paper Pumpkin kit from December 2023 here.
I think I might be almost done with my Valentine’s Day crafting for this year. And part of me is kind of sad about it because I’ve been having so much fun! But before I’m done I need to share a cute Valentine’s Day card with Hello Ladybug. And while this isn’t necessarily a Valentine’s Day stamp set per se, it’s easy enough to add a “Happy Valentine’s Day” to these cute ladybugs.
For my colours I’m pulling from one of the designs of the Sale-a-bration Flight & Airy Designer Series Paper… Fresh Freesia and Bubble Bath. Not exactly traditional Valentine’s Day colours, but I love the combination and I think this patterned paper will make pretty wings.
My card base is Bubble Bath. And then I used a little bit of both for my ink colours. The little hearts around the edges are Bubble Bath. Next I layered a piece of Basic Black cardstock and a piece of the DSP. I made my bumblebee with Bubble Bath and Tuxedo Black Memento ink. And for my ladybug, I used some Basic Black cardstock and some of the DSP.
When I first say the bumblebee builder punch, I saw speech bubbles instead of the body. So I used that idea to add a cute sentiment for each bug. And then I popped them all up with some Stampin’ Dimensionals.
I’m so glad I remember to make a Valentine’s Day card with Hello Ladybug. These bugs are just too cute!
Check out another Valentine’s Day card I made using the Bee My Valentine bundle here.
I can’t believe that February starts in just a couple days! Can you?! I’ve been busy with all kinds of Valentine’s Day crafting lately. Have you started yours yet? If you haven’t then you’ll want to keep reading. Today I’m sharing my favourite Valentine’s Day stamp sets.
The January-April Mini catalogue definitely has a few stamp sets that’ll work great for Valentine’s Day. But my favourite has to be the Bee My Valentine stamp set. The obvious reason why I love this stamp set is the super cute Bumblebee and different expressions that you can give it! Aside from that, there’s a number of different Valentine’s Day sentiments using different fonts. I love a stamp set that has lots of images and sentiments like this one. So versatile too… it doesn’t have to be just for Valentine’s Day.
The Sending Love stamp set is also really nice for Valentine’s Day. A lot of great sentiments in this one too. I think my favourite are the circular ones. And the mailbox is a really fun image to use!
There aren’t as many Valentine’s Day stamp sets in the Annual catalogue. But there is one that would make some fun Valentine’s Day cards… Hello Ladybug. Ladybug… love bug… am I right?! Now it maybe doesn’t have a “Happy Valentine’s Day”, but it does have other sentiments that could be used (“you can bug me anytime”) if you don’t have one already in your craft stash. And the ladybug is pretty cute!
Thanks Stampin’ Up! for these super cute projects!
Do you have any favourite Valentine’s Day stamp sets? I’d love to know if you do! In the meantime, check out one of the Valentine’s Day cards I made using the Bee My Valentine stamp set here. And you can find all of these stamp sets, along with everything else you need for your Valentine’s Day crafting, in my online shop.
I’m getting back to some #SimpleStamping with this card. As much as I like using patterned paper, die cuts and embellishments, pretty cards don’t have to be complicated! This month’s challenge from Stampin’ Up! is to make a #SimpleStamping birthday card with a Sale-a-bration item. I had a hard time choosing because there are so many great products to choose from right now. But for this card I’m excited to stamp with one of the new stamp sets from the January-April Mini catalogue… Hooray for Surprises. And so I’m using the Pool Party Crinkled ribbon as my Sale-a-bration item.
For my card base I’m using Pool Party cardstock of course! I’m pairing it with Daffodil Delight to keep the colour combination nice and bright. Plus it’s a great colour for all the candle flames.
To make my background, I stamped a bunch of candles, using Pool Party and Daffodil Delight ink, around my sentiment… which is in Pool Party ink. Then I stamped a birthday cake on a smaller piece of Basic White cardstock using more Pool Party. The candle and flame are in Daffodil Delight. I framed that with another piece of Pool Party cardstock and then popped it up with a few Stampin’ Dimensionals on top of my Sale-a-bration ribbon. To finish it off, I added a little bit more of the ribbon with a simple know.
I’m so tempted to add some Wink of Stella to this #SimpleStamping birthday card. Or maybe even a few Rhinestone Basic Jewels. Heat embossing the flames would be another great way to level up this card design.
Check out another one of my #SimpleStamping cards here.
Maybe it’s because of a New Year’s resolution. Or maybe it’s because you just wanted to try something new. Whatever the reason, I’m always excited when I meet someone who’s new to stamping. There are so many great ways to be creative, but I also know that it can feel intimidating, making it hard to know where to start. So I thought I’d share what I think are the top 5 things every beginner crafter needs!
First up is a good paper trimmer. YOu’ll want something that can cut cardstock and patterned paper up to 12″ x 12″. And you’ll also want something that you can get replacement blades for. Eventually the blades do get a little dull and you end up with fussy edges. I really like Stampin’ Up!s new paper trimmer because it’s relatively compacet and has an arm that extends for the bigger sheets. Anotehr reason I like this trimmer is because I can cut OR score my cardstock and patterned paper.
Next is a couple of different kinds of adhesive. There are ALOT of different kinds of adhesive out there, but when you’re starting out you probably only need one or two. So to start I would recomment a tape runner, like Stampin’ Up!s Stampin’ SEAL, and Stampin’ Dimensionals. Stampin’ SEAL will cover most of your needs for your projects and it’s nice and strong. Plus you don’t end up with blobs like you can with liquid glue. And the Dimensionals are fun to pop things up and add more layers to your projects. As you get more into paper crafting you can add in other adhesives like Mini Glue Dots or Tear & Tape Adhesive.
Every crafter also needs a good pair of scissors of course! This is a tool that you’ll use a lot so you want to make sure it’s a good pair! You’ll use it for simple cutting/trimming, for fussy cutting images and cutting twine, ribbon, etc. The paper snips from Stampin’ Up! are great for all of these and they’re not too big so they easily fit into your craft bag. And the cover will make sure the sharp blades don’t poke any holes in anything. If you end up using a lot of ribbon for your projects, you may want to get a separate pair of scissors for that. Stampin’ Up! used to have a pair of craft scissors that I use for mine. but you can easily find a pair at a local craft store.
Number 4 is one tool that I always have with me… my Bone Folder. This really helps get a nice crisp fold which comes in handy especially when you’re doing a fun fold! It also works great if you need to reposition your cardstock or patterned paper. As long as you catch it quickly.
And last, but definitely not least is the Take Your Pick Tool. This is a tool that I didn’t know I needed until I had it. And now I can’t imagine crafting without it. The putty end is great for picking up sequins and gems. I also use this end when I need help positioning my stamped image in my punches. It comes with two different sized scoring ends. As well as a paper piercing and spatula tip. Either one of these works great for picking up adhesive-backed gems and the paper piercing end is ideal if you ever need help getting that paper off the back of the Glue Dots and Dimensionals. There’s a brush tip to help get all those little bits out of your dies. And if all that wasn’t enough there’s a craft knife tool and a perforating disc tool. I’m sure there’s ones that I’m forgetting, but you get the idea!
So these are my suggestions for the 5 things that every beginner crafter needs. I hope you find this helpful!
If you’d like more stamping tips and project ideas, sign up for my weekly newsletter here.
And if you’d like to grab any of the tools I talked about here you can do that in my online shop.
I’m having a lot of fun crafting Valentine’s Day cards! And the Most Adored Specialty Designer Series Paper pack makes it really easy to make a pretty handmade Valentine’s Day card. The colours are perfect for Valentine’s Day. And I just love the gold foil designs. So I had a hard time picking what designs to use for this card.
The inkspiration for this card design came from a picture I saw in a Facebook group I’m a part of. It’s such a great way to show off pretty patterned paper like this! I’m keeping the card base neutral with Crumb Cake to help the colours from the Designer Series Paper stand out. Once I picked my designs I stuck them to a piece of Basic White cardstock.
My “Happy Valentine’s Day” comes from the Bee My Valentine stamp set in the January-April Mini catalogue. I stamped it with Crumb Cake ink. Then I added some cute little hearts from the same stamp set with Flirty Flamingo ink. Finally I popped up that piece of cardstock with a couple Stampin’ Dimensionals.
I love that Stampin’ Up! has a pack of patterned paper with gold foil as one of the free products in the Sale-a-bration catalogue this year! Check out another handmade Valentine’s Day card I shared using some of the other Sale-a-bration products here.
And you can find everything you need to make your own handmade Valentine’s Day cards in my online shop.
We’re halfway through January and Sale-a-bration 2024 is just kicking into high gear. Every year at this time Stampin’ Up! comes out with it’s biggest promo of the year. So what’s the deal?
From now until the end of February (Feb. 29th), you can earn free products with your order. Order anything from the Annual or new January-April Mini catalogues and if it’s $60 or more you can choose a Sale-a-bration product for free! You can also get free Sale-a-bration products when you order a pre-paid Paper Pumpkin subscription.
Now there are a couple of ‘levels’ in the Sale-a-bration catalogue. The first level goes with $60 orders and the second level goes with $120 orders. And the nice thing about Sale-a-bration is that you can mix and match! So if your order is $60 you can choose 1 product from the first level. But if your order is $120 you can order 2 from the first level OR 1 from the second. And if your order is $180 you can choose 3 from level 1 or one from each. And so on and so on.
This is a great time to stock up on cardstock and adhesives. All those essentials! I’m definitely going to be doing that before the end of February. Right now is also a great time to host a stamping party or even join the Stampin’ Up! family.
If you host a workshop before the end of February there are special products that are only for hosts. And if your party orders are more than $375 then you won’t get just 10% ($37.45+) worth of free product from the Annual/Mini catalogues but 10% PLUS an extra $37.50! So at least $75 worth of free product.
Or if you want to get even more free top quality crafting supplies and a good discount, then think about joining my team and becoming a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator. For only $135 (no tax or shipping) usually you get $165 worth of Stampin’ Up! product of your choosing. But right now for that same great price you can either get $206 worth of product OR the $165 worth of product and the Stampin’ Glass Mat Studio. I have one and am excited to use it!
Don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions you might have about Sale-a-bration or joining the Stampin’ Up! family. If you’re excited to join my team and take advantage of these great deals, then here’s where you can do that.
In the meantime, check out a card I made using a couple of the Sale-a-bration products here. Or you can check out my Facebook live from last night using some of Sale-a-bration 2024 products here.
After Christmas this is the most wonderful time of year! At least for crafters anyway… because it’s Sale-a-bration time. This is Stampin’ Up!s biggest promotion of the year. It’s such a great time to stock up on crafting essentials like cardstock and adhesive because it leads to FREE crafting supplies like the Heartfelt Hellos stamp set.
This stamp set is full of great sentiment, so I decided to pair it with the Bee My Valentine stamp set to make a cute Valentine’s day card. But the only traditional Valentine’s day colour I used on this card is pink. Well Bubble Bath actually. For this design I made my own background full of different images. I stamped the larger hearts in Bubble Bath ink. Then I stamped some flowers with Pool Party ink. And to fill in some of the gaps I stamped some little hearts in Highland Heather ink.
I used Pool Party for my card base so that I could also use the Pool Party ribbon that’s also part of Sale-a-bration. The sentiment from the Heartfelt Hellos stamp set is in Bubble Bath. And I added a few more little hearts in Pool Party. Next I die cut it with one of the Something Fancy dies to create a cute tag. Then I popped it up with some Stampin’ Dimensionals. And to finish it off I added some Iridescent Pearl Basic Jewels to the centres of the flowers. What girl doesn’t like a little sparkle for Valentine’s Day?! lol
Other than the die cut tag, this is a nice simple Valentine’s Day card. And as much fun as I’ve been having with the bumblebee from the Bee My Valentine stamp set, it was nice to use a few of the other images.
Check out another card I made with the Bee Mine suite here.
I’ll be sharing all there is to know about Sale-a-bration in my next post so stay tuned! Or if you can’t wait until then, head over to my online shop.
Stampin’ Up! definitely ended 2023 on a high note. The All the Best Paper Pumpkin kit is gorgeous! This is probably my favourite kit of 2023. The colours are nice and bright and the sentiments are lovely. Plus I love the gold foil and dandelion images! It totally reminds me of a stamp set from a couple of years ago, Dandelion Wishes. That is one set that didn’t make it into my craft stash, so I’m definitely holding on to this one.
I didn’t make too many alternative projects with this kit because I love the original designs so much. But I did make a few. For my first alternative card project I just mixed and matched what was in the kit. I used one of the Balmy Blue card bases and cut up one of the envelopes for my main image. Then I trimmed one of the gold foil circles and added a dandelion I fussy cut as part of another alternative project.
The other dandelions I fussy cut went to make a different kind of project. This could be a framed piece or the focal point of a scrapbook page. To make it, I trimmed one of the other Balmy Blue card bases and popped up the gold foil square with a few Stampin’ Dimensionals, with the dandelions just behind it.
I made one other alternative card project with the All the Best Paper Pumpkin kit. Catch the replay over on my Facebook page where I made it last night.
And check out one of the other super popular Paper Pumpkin kits of 2023 here.
Want to get in on all the crafty fun?! Paper Pumpkin kits arrive at your door with everything you need to make the projects inside. The January kit looks like it’ll be really pretty! Plus it coordinates with one of the suites from the new January-April Mini catalogue. Sign up for the Lovely Lavender kit by January 10th! That’s tomorrow.
The original inkspiration for this handmade thank you card design came from a colouring page image I saw on Pinterest. Go figure! I really like the idea of popping images up on top of different shapes. And I just love butterflies so that’s where I started with my design.
To go with the butterfly theme I debated a couple of patterned paper options; Fresh like a Daisy and Masterfully Made. I really love the colours, smaller sized flowers and other elements in the Masterfully Made Designer Series Paper pack, so that was the winner. From there I pulled Fresh Freesia as my card base and ink colour.
Then to contrast the darker and eventually busier patterned paper, I stamped the simple ink splatter image from the Quiet Meadow stamp set. And I stamped off on a scrap piece of paper first to make the Fresh Freesia even lighter. Next I added the hexagon shapes that I cut using one of the Something Fancy dies. Starting with just one and spreading out as I went down the cardstock.
For my butterflies I used two different ones. I started with the smaller Brushed Brass Butterflies and then die cut some larger ones using the Meadow dies. I popped up the cardstock butterflies with some Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals. And the “thanks” comes from the Biggest Wish stamp set. I punched that out with the Double Oval Punch and then popped it up with some Stampin’ Dimensionals.
This handmade thank you card design is such a nice one! I think I’ll have to try it with some different shapes and/or images next time.
Check out another card I made using the Masterfully Made Designer Series Paper pack here.
I want to take a moment and wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy 2024! It’s been a busy few days for us here. We visited with both sides of the family, enjoyed great food and the munchkins were very happy to get a “few” presents. Lol!
For this year’s Christmas card for my customers I used the Cottage Wreaths bundle from the Annual catalogue and the retiring Christmas Tidings embossing folder. Shaded Spruce is my main colour, but I did throw in a splash of Cherry Cobbler for the berries. Great Christmas colours!
I hope you all had the chance to spend time with those you love this festive season. And I hope you also have some time to relax and do something you love.
Merry Christmas and Happy 2024 everyone!
Don’t forget there’s still time to take advantage of the Last Chance sale. You can get up to 60% off until January 3rd. Some things have already sold out, so for the most up to date info, check out my online shop.
This past weekend I had my small team over for a Christmas party! We played games, ate some yummy treats and of course made some cards. But we didn’t make Christmas cards. Instead we did some more crafting with Bee Mine from the upcoming mini catalogue and another set from the Annual catalogue. Today I’m sharing the card we made with the Bee Mine suite.
I really wanted to show off the fun Designer Series Paper in this suite. So I used a Basic White card base and card front. In between is a piece of Daffodil Delight cardstock. Then for the patterned paper, I picked 2 different designs. This was kind of hard because I like all the designs in the Bee Mine DSP pack. But for this card I went with 2 designs that are a little more subtle. That way my little bumblebee will stand out.
To make my bumblebee I started by stamping the body using Daffodil Delight ink. Then I layered the strips on top with Tuxedo Black Memento ink. I also stamped the wings in black. And the little heart is in Sweet Sorbet ink. To make it super easy to punch out everything, I made a template beforehand with a scrap piece of cardstock. I layered that on top of my cardstock for stamping and stamped the images through the template.
I popped up the little heart and my bumblebee with some Stampin’ Dimensionals. The minis are perfect for the little heart. Here it is…
I’ll definitely be doing some more crafting with Bee Mine. It’s such a cute suite! There’s some great sentiments to choose from and there are 4 different faces that you can give your bumblebee.
Check out the 2 cards I made with I attended OnStage at Home back in November here.
And don’t forget there’s still time to get your favourite products before they retire. Check out my online shop to see what’s retiring and what’s still in stock.
It’s been quite a while since I shared a fancy fold card and so when I saw this one I couldn’t resist! It’s a Suspended Book fold card. Now this card is a little bigger than I usually make. It’s 5″ x 7″ instead of 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″. But I love how this card looks!
I’m still deep into my Christmas crafting, so my card design is Christmas themed. Although I did go in a little bit of a different direction with some of my colours. My main colour is Misty Moonlight. I’m using that colour because I wanted to use the Winter Meadow Designer Series Paper pack. I just love the designs in this pack of patterned paper. And I’m so glad that it’s not retiring!
For my sentiment and images I’m using the Joy of Noel bundle. I used Misty Moonlight ink for the berry branches and “Noel”. And for the pine boughs I used Garden Green cardstock. I stuck the pine boughs and berry branches to the back of the sentiment first. That made it so much easier to then stick it all to the strip of window sheet.
Here it is….
The Suspended Book fold card is probably one of my favourites! I might need to make another version of this.
Check out another card I made using the Joy of Noel bundle here.
And just in case you love this bundle as much as I do, you’ll want to grab it before it retires on January 3rd… or sooner if it sells out. You can find it in my online shop.
