Tag: patterned paper

How to Use Patterned Paper

Posted on by inkspirationwithteresa

We all love how pretty patterned paper is! Which makes it hard sometime to cut it up and use it on our projects. Am I right?! This was me for the longest time. I’ve been working at getting better at using my patterned paper for a little while now. So I thought I’d share about how to use patterned paper for your projects.

My first tip to help you use your patterned paper is to have it somewhere where you’re going to see it. It’s happened to all of us that we forget what we have in our craft stash because we don’t see it… myself included. Now that you’ve got your patterned paper at your finger tips it’ll be easier to match it up with your cardstock!

Next up some design ideas to help you use your patterned paper…

Once of the easiest designs is to use your patterned paper as a background. Then all you have to do is add it to a card base, add a sentiment and en embellishment or two. With this design you want to keep things simple. You’ll also want to keep things simple if you have a busier piece of patterned paper. Like this…

how to use patterned paper

Another way is to use a smaller piece as an accent on your card. A little strip off to one side or on the bottom of your cardstock. Here’s an example I made using the Country Woods Designer Series Paper pack.

how to use patterned paper

And don’t forget, you can always add a small strip on the inside of your card. Or even on the envelope you put the card in. Goodness knows we all have enough little strips lying around!

Or you can do something totally different like I did here using the Celebratory Sips Designer Series Paper pack.

And if you’re looking for some pretty paper for your next project, check out my online shop!

Watercolouring with Christmas Greenery

Posted on by inkspirationwithteresa

Over the summer I took a break from my watercolour painting class. While I did miss the classes, I did paint a couple of pieces. I’ve also been looking for more ways to use watercolour painting with my cards. So when I was getting ready for Kathryn’s Krop 4 a Kure a few weeks ago, I thought it’d be fun to do some watercolouring with Christmas Greenery for my Make & Take.

When I first saw the Christmas Greenery stamp set in the September-December mini catalogue, I knew it’d be perfect for watercolouring! I tend to like the look of stamps with thin lines for this kind of project.

So to start I stamped the large floral image using Gray Granite ink on Fluid 100 Watercolour Paper, stamping off first onto a scrap piece of paper. Most of the time people use Tuxedo Black Memento ink. But I’ve found that as long as you give the ink enough time to dry, you can use almost any ink. I like the Gray Granite ink colour because it’s more subtle and there’s a bit of a brown/green tint to it… my painter husband would be so proud to hear me say that, lol!!

As for other ink colours, I used a few. For the leaves and ribbon I used Lost Lagoon. Then for the wheat I used Crumb Cake. And for the flowers I used Real Red and Crushed Curry. Once it all dried, I added another layer of colour to the flowers and leaves. I used the same idea as when I colour with Stampin’ Blends… adding more ink where I thought there would be shadow or wanted a bit more depth of colour.

Behind the bouquet there’s a piece of Country Woods Designer Series Paper, a Lost Lagoon card mat and Crumb Cake card base. And around the piece of watercolour paper is a piece of Linen Thread.

Watercolouring with Christmas Greenery

So pretty right?!

I can’t wait to do more watercolouring with Christmas Greenery. And maybe even some colouring with my Stampin’ Blends.

Check out another card I did using watercolouring here.

And you can find everything you need to do your own watercolouring with Christmas Greenery in my online shop.

Team Apple Cider

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Fall is here! So the big question is are you team Apple Cider or team Pumpkin Spice?

I’ve been having a lot of fun crafting lately with the More than Autumn stamps and dies which totally lives up to it’s name. It’s a very versatile set! Which totally earns bonus points with me. And it makes it so you don’t have to choose. This week’s card pairs these awesome stamps and dies with the Country Woods Designer Series Paper pack. Another favourite of mine!

The card base is Cherry Cobbler with an Early Espresso design for the card front. On top of that are 4 Very Vanilla squares framed with more Cherry Cobbler cardstock. Each square has a different image stamped on the cup sleeve. There are so many cute images to choose from! And I think I used all of them on this card. I used Early Espresso ink that I stamped off on a scrap piece of paper first. In the centre of the four squares is another cup that I coloured using the Crumb Cake and Cherry Cobbler Stampin’ Blends. The cinnamon stick was coloured using Pecan Pie. And all of these are popped up with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

Underneath the squares I die cut part of the sentiment with one of the dies and some Cherry Cobbler cardstock. (I used the Fine Tip Glue Pen to stick it to the patterned paper. But you could also use adhesive sheets.) Then I stamped “apple cider” on a small piece of Very Vanilla cardstock. I stamped off the Early Espresso for the sentiment and then popped it up too.

Team Apple Cider

Check out another project I made using the More than Autumn stamps and dies here. And you can find them in my online shop. Sadly the dies have been moved to the Last Chance section, so they’ll only be available for a little while longer.

As for me, I’m team Apple Cider. How about you?

Apple Season

Posted on by inkspirationwithteresa

Fall officially kicks off on Monday! And while I enjoy summer, I just love the colours of Fall! Plus that means we’re in apple season which means apple picking and warm apple cider. I think that’s even been showing up in my craft room. The past little bit I’ve been having fun colouring with the More than Autumn stamps and dies. It’s such a fun combo to craft with!

This week’s card is leaning hard into my love of fall and apple season. I started by pulling out the retired Harvest Hello stamp set and punch and then added in a few pieces from the More than Autumn stamps and dies. The card base is Crumb Cake with a Cherry Cobbler card mat. I also used these colours for my inks; ink pads and Stampin’ Blends. With a little splash of Shaded Spruce.

To colour the apples I started with the Light Cherry Cobbler Stampin’ Blend. Then I added a little bit of the Dark Cherry Cobbler for some depth and shadow. To help with the blending process I then went over the dark edges with the light one more time. For the Crumb Cake and Shaded Spruce I just used one of the Stampin’ Blends. There isn’t a whole lot of space for blending on those parts.

Then I used the punch and die to cut out my apples. Behind the apples I have a piece of the Country Woods Designer Series Paper. The wood grains are great for fall themed projects! I also used the Cherry Cobbler Stampin’ Blend to colour a piece of retired black & white gingham ribbon which I then wrapped around the patterned paper. The apples and part of the sentiment is popped up with Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals. And then I die cut the words “apple season” out of Cherry Cobbler cardstock to layer on top.

Apple Season

Check out another card I made using the More than Autumn stamp set and dies here.

And stay tuned for some more projects with this awesome set. I don’t think I’m quite ready to put this away just yet.

In the meantime you can head over to my online shop to find the stamps, dies and whatever else you need to make your own version. And when you’re done make sure to post it here. I’d love to see it!

Mini Pocket Folder

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Earlier this week while I was scrolling social media, I came across this fun project from Stampin’ Up!. And when I saw it, I got excited to try and make one for myself. Making this Mini Pocket Folder was super easy! No fancy folding needed or all kinds of different pieces to be assembled either. Just 4 pieces of patterned paper and my decorations.

I’m using one of the floral designs from the Cheers & Sips Designer Series Paper pack. The one Stampin’ Up! shared also used this same patterned paper pack, but used one of the designs with all the little cocktails on it… they used it as a cocktail recipe holder. No matter what patterned paper you pick, you definitely want to make sure you choose a design where you like both sides. Otherwise it’ll end be a lot thicker than you want it to be.

So for the folder itself, all you need to do is cut a 12″ x 12″ piece of patterned paper in half. And double check the direction of the design before you cut! Then you’ll score both pieces at 4″ and 8″ on the short side of your patterned paper. Next you’ll use Tear & Tape Adhesive along the outer edges of the end panel of one piece to stick to the first panel of the other piece and create a pocket. And make sure the designs that go inside the pocket match. I used a small 1/2″ Circle Punch to create a little notch so that it’s easier to pull out whatever I end up putting in there. You can probably go up to about 1″ or 1 1/2″ for your notch.

Then you’ll fold all the panels in towards the centre. And to create another pocket at the front of the Mini Pocket Folder, you’ll want to cut off a triangle from that very first panel. Then you’ll add some more Tear & Tape Adhesive along the bottom and smallest edge to create the pocket.

Mini Pocket Folder

And for the last and smallest pocket, I used a completely different design from the same pack of patterned paper. The pocket is about 2 3/4″ x 3 7/8″ with an extra 1/4″ on three sides which I scored to fold in so that the pocket pops up a little bit. Of course I added more Tear & Tape along those tabs. I also used my 1/2″ Circle Punch again to create another notch.

Mini Pocket Folder

To finish it off I added another piece of patterned paper, 2 2/8″ x 6″ scored in the middle. This created a nice edge and covered up the folds from the 2 large pieces of patterned paper. Then I added a few die cut butterflies in Bubble Bath and Blackberry Bliss using the Beautiful Butterflies Hybrid Embossing Folder.

I love simple projects like this Mini Pocket Folder! Now to figure out what I’m going to put in it! Any suggestions?

In the meantime, check out another card I made using some of the products from the Cheers & Sips suite here.

And head to my online store to grab anything you need to make your own Mini Pocket Folder.

Create a Sunset with Blending Brushes

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I had a few people over last weekend for an all occasions card class featuring the Notes and Totes bundle. There were a couple of simpler cards. But I also thought it’s be fun to CASE a card from Stampin’ Up!. (Not sure what CASE means? Check out this post) Especially since we got to create a sunset with Blending Brushes.

There’s a lot of colour on this card. So I went with a simple Basic White cards base. To create the sunset I used 4 colours. I started with Garden Green just below the half way point on the card base. Then I added a little bit of Calypso Coral. Next is Fresh Freesia. And to finish it off at the top, Balmy Blue.

In front of this, I added a Basic White fence. And we crumpled some Crumb Cake cardstock for the beach. Then on top of that I layered a Very Vanilla and Pecan Pie tote with a Fresh Freesia scarf. And no day at the beach is complete without a few other things. So I used some Beautiful Bokeh Designer Series Paper to create the water bottle and sunscreen… Balmy Blue for the water bottle of course… and Calypso Coral for the sunscreen. I made sure the sunglasses matched the scarf. And then I finished it off with a Basic Beige sea star.

I heat embossed the sentiment at the top in white. But during the class we switched it to silver. I think the white would stand out more if I’d added a little more Balmy Blue.

Either way I think we had fun! It’s a lot easier to create a sunset with Blending Brushes than you might think.

Create a Sunset with Blending Brushes

Check out another card I made using the Notes and Totes bundle here.

And if you want to give this a try for yourself, you can find the bundle in my online shop.

Summer Themed Handmade Card

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So last weekend I got to spend the day crafting with a few people from my larger team. Its a great chance for uninterrupted crafting! I usually bring a few different thing cause I’m not always sure what I want to work on. This time I prepped everything for this weekend’s all occasion card class. And with the creative energy I had left I crafted a summer themed handmade card… or two.

I’m having fun crafting with the Notes and Totes bundle. And it’s a perfect set for summer! Because its a summer themed card I wanted it to be nice and bright. I started with one of the designs from the Beautiful Bokeh Designer Series Paper pack that I haven’t used yet. So to go with it I used Daffodil Delight and Balmy Blue as my two main colours.

I framed the piece of DSP with some Balmy Blue cardstock. Then on the other side I stamped two of the smaller images. The sun with Daffodil Delight (of course) and the flower in Balmy Blue. I also “sprinkled” in some grains of sand using Crumb Cake ink.

For the sentiment, I split it up, so to speak, and then die cut it with one of the Stylish Shapes dies. I LOVE these dies! I popped up the sentiment with some Stampin’ Dimensionals. Then to finish it off I die cut a pair of Balmy Blue sunglasses and added a few Iridescent Foil Gems.

Summer Themed Handmade Card

I’m looking forward to making another summer themed handmade card using the Notes and Totes bundle!

Check out the card I made for last weekend’s Shoebox Swap here. And check out the bundle in my online store.

Notes & Totes

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So tomorrow I get to spend the day crafting away with a bunch of my larger team! Every few months we have an in-person “playdate”. We rent a big meeting room in a hotel in Burlington and spend the day working on whatever we want. Plus there’s great food and the company is hard to beat! As an extra bonus we can choose to sign up for a shoebox swap if we want. This is basically where you bring all the supplies needed to make a card you design in a “shoebox” for others to make. I’m using the Notes & Totes bundle from the new Annual Catalogue for mine.

I’m using some of the Beautiful Bokeh Designer Series Paper to create cute tote bags to go on my card fronts. I didn’t have enough of one colour/design… I needed to make 18… so I used a Calypso Coral design and a Fresh Freesia design. The card mats coordinate with the patterned paper, of course. And for the card bases I’m using Basic Beige. The bits and pieces that make up the tote are also Basic Beige. And I used Basic Black and Calypso Coral/Fresh Freesia for the sunglasses. And I popped all that up with some Stampin’ Dimensionals.

Behind the bag I stamped the small floral design in Basic Beige. And underneath the tote is a sentiment from the Notes & Totes stamp set in the coordinating colour.

Notes & Totes

I’m curious to see what I’ll get to make in tomorrow’s showbox swap!

I’ll share pics on social, so make sure to check those out. Here’s the link to my Facebook page and Instagram.

In the meantime, check out a post about the playdate we had to celebrate Stampin’ Up!s 35th birthday here. Cori from head office actually came to hang out with us!

Everyday Arches

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Part of what I love about being a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator is all the fun I have getting together with others to craft! Especially when it’s with my team… in-person or virtually. Just recently there was a virtual get together where we got to make a few cards with some materials our large team leader sent us. And as an added bonus some of the pieces she sent to us were from dies, etc. that I don’t have. My favourite one that we made uses the Everyday Arches dies. It’s part of an online exclusive bundle that I’ve been wondering if I should add to my wishlist.

The card base is Mossy Meadow with one of the darker designs from the Country Woods Designer Series Paper pack. This is one of my favourite packs of patterned paper! So I was really glad when I saw it was being carried over. On top of the Designer Series Paper panels are Crumb Cake arches. Then on the middle arch is a smaller Very Vanilla arch with a sentiment from the recently retired Layering Leaves stamp set in Early Espresso. The foliage is from the Gallery Blooms dies and it’s all wrapped with some Linen Thread.

For the two side panels, the smaller arches have different designs from the Beautiful Gallery Designer Series Paper pack. Then on the front panel I added another sentiment from the Layering Leaves stamp set that I die cut using one of the Something Fancy dies, also recently retired. This got popped up with a couple of Stampin’ Dimensionals. And then to finish it off there are a few Pressed Flowers Motifs.

When it’s closed, all the arches line up…

Everyday Arches

And when you open it looks like this…

Everyday Arches

The Everyday Arches dies have definitely made it onto my wishlist now!

Check out another fun fold card I made here.

And if you’d like to join my team to get in on all this crafting fun there’s never been a better time! For just a couple more days you can get $220 worth of Stampin’ Up! product for only $135. Then whether you decide to make a business of it or not, you’ll get to be a part of this great community!

Let me know if you have any questions. And if you’re ready to join in, here’s where you can do it.

Cheers to All the Moms

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This weekend is Mother’s Day. I usually make Mother’s Day cards filled with flowers. A pretty common theme. But this year I’m doing something a little different. I’m having fun with the Cheers & Sips stamp set, so I thought I’d say cheers to all the moms with a fun card using this and some of the newest In Colours. What mom wouldn’t enjoy a mimosa or a nice glass of wine this weekend?!

The card base is Darling Duckling with a Secret Sea design from the Celebratory Sips Designer Series Paper pack for the card mat. Then I have a simple piece of Basic White cardstock that I stamped some speckles around the edges with Darling Duckling, Old Olive and Timid Tiger ink. And in the centre, I have a few different cocktails that I fussy cut from the same pack of patterned paper. I also fussy cut a few of the small pink flowers to put around the sentiment.

The sentiment is from the Cheers & Sips stamp set AND the retired Dahlia Days stamp set. Then I die cut part of the sentiment using one of the Stylish Shapes dies. I popped up the cocktails and sentiment using Stampin’ Dimensionals. Then to finish it off I added a few Iridescent Foil Gems.

Cheers to All the Moms

So cheers to all the moms out there! I hope you are spoiled… you deserve it!

Check out another card I made using the Celebratory Sips Designer Series Paper here.

And check out the Celebratory Sips suite in my online shop here.

Easy Watercolouring with Flowers of Beauty

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So last weekend I started a watercolour painting class. It’s someting I’ve been thinking about for a while. I’m excited to see what we create over the next few weeks, but there were definitely some parts that were frustrating. So to ease some of my frustration I did some easy watercolouring with Flowers of Beauty.

The “easy” part is that I stamped my images first and then coloured them in using a Water Painter and some ink refills. To do this I placed a drop of ink refill on one of my acrylic blocks and then used a wet Water Painter to add the colours to the cardstock.

For the flowers I used Berry Burst, Calypso Coral and Daffodil Delight. I chose those colours because they’re some of the colours from the strips of Celebratory Sips Designer Series Paper I have on my Daffodil Delight card base and Old Olive card mat. For the leaves I used Old Olive.

The sentiment is from the retired Dahlia Days stamp set. This was one of my favourites from a couple of years ago. And I can’t bring myself to get rid of it! I stamped it using Old Olive ink and die cut it with one of the Something Fancy dies. Then I popped it up using some Stampin’ Dimensionals. I also added some white twine underneath and a couple of Rhinestone Basic Jewels.

Easy Watercolouring with Flowers of Beauty

At some point I’ll share some of my creations from my class on social. So stay tuned! Come find me on Facebook and Instagram.

In the meantime I’ll keep doing some easy watercolouring with Flowers of Beauty and other stamp sets in my craft stash.

Check out another card I made using the Celebratory Designer Series Paper here.

Celebratory Sips

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The new Annual catalogue launches in less than 2 weeks! And while I usually like to get a new stamp set with my pre-order, the ones I really wanted weren’t included. So when I was crafting a card to go with my catalogues for customers I used a couple of pieces from the Celebratory Sips suite. It’s an online exclusive, but the patterned paper features almost all of the new In Colours. And because of that I wanted to really show it off!

I chose 4 different designs to create a background on a Very Vanilla card base. On top of that I put together a cocktail of sorts. I used Smoky Slate ink for the glass itself. Then I used Timid Tiger for the slice of orange to go with one of my strips of patterned paper. And Strawberry Slush for the strawberry.

“Cheers” is in Secret Sea and “let’s celebrate” is stamped with Darling Duck. I framed the cocktail using one of the Stylish Shapes dies and popped it up with some Stampin’ Dimensionals. Then used Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals for the “let’s celebrate”. To finish it off, instead of using the 2025-27 In Colour Flat Pearls, I used some Iridescent Foil Gems. They totally made me think of bubbles. What do you think?

Celebratory Sips

Celebratory Sips isn’t a favourite yet, but I am having fun with it.

The whole suite will be available soon. In the meantime, check out the current online exclusives in my online shop.

I’m also offering an online class using this suite at the beginning of June. Contact me for more info.

ScrapFest 2025

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ScrapFest 2025

I’m so excited to be going back for ScrapFest 2025! This will be my fourth year there and I always have so much fun. I love the chance to talk about papercrafting and Stampin’ Up!. And I’ve met some great people over the past few years. This year I’m sure will bring lots of opportunities for both of these. And maybe I’ll even make some new friends!

As usual there’s going to be lots of great vendors! There’s also fun classes, door prizes and more. I’ll of course have a Make & Take. But the only clue I’m going to give you is that it’s a fun fold card. So I hope you’ll come by and craft with me!

I’ve also been seriously purging my craft stash to bring with me to ScrapFest. I did pretty good and was really honest about what I actually need, and want, to keep in my stash. So I’ll have lots of great retired product for sale. Including stamp sets, die bundles, punch bundles and lots of retired cardstock and patterned paper.

It’s all happening on April 11th and 12th. For more details about what’s going on at ScrapFest 2025, check out their website. I imagine the crop is sold out, but there’s always lots of tickets for the marketplace. And if you buy a ticket for both Friday and Saturday, you’ll get a bag of goodies!

I’ll make sure to share my Make & Take here once ScrapFest is over. So stay tuned!

In the meantime, you can check out one of my more recent fun fold cards here.

Uninterrupted Crafting

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A few weeks ago I got to spend the day with a great group of people… my larger team… for a day of crafting. There’s always good food and it’s a chance for uninterrupted crafting… or at least less interruptions than if I were at home. Lol! And this time we also had the option of joining in on a couple of creative challenges. I love this idea as it really helped get my creative juices flowing! And it gave me the chance to have some fun with the Beautiful Bokeh Designer Series Paper.

This card design came from the sketch challenge. So we were given a picture that suggested shapes, elements, positioning, etc. Then you interpret that however you want. I used Berry Burst for my card base and one of my ink colours. My other ink colour, Fresh Freesia, came from one of the 3 different designs of patterned paper I used.

On top of the patterned paper card mat, I layered a piece of Basic White cardstock. I stamped the “Happy Birthday” sentiment from the Beautiful Butterflies stamp set using both of my ink colours. Next I layered on a piece of Basic Black cardstock. On top of that is an even smaller piece of Beautiful Bokeh Designer Series Paper.

The final layer are 2 butterflies I die cut using the Beautiful Butterflies hybrid embossing folder and 2 different designs from the Beautiful Bokeh Designer Series Paper pack. I wasn’t expecting the distressed look that I got on the larger butterfly, but I really like it! To finish it off I added some Wink of Stella to both butterflies and a few Iridescent Foil Gems.

Uninterrupted Crafting Time

I just love this patterned paper! And I can’t wait for the next chance for some more uninterrupted crafting!

Check out another card I made using the Beautiful Bokeh Designer Series Paper here. And find everything you need to create your own version of this card, or any of my others, in my online shop.

Bloom Impressions

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Today’s the last day of Sale-a-bration! I can’t believe we’re already at the end of February. Can you?! One of my favourite things from the Sale-a-bration catalogue turned out to be the Bloom Impressions Designer Series Paper. Now I have to admit, I do prefer the designs with one or two colours. But I have used the mutli-coloured designs for a couple of projects.

I love purple! So for my last card design that I’m sharing here, I’m using the Blackberry Bliss/purple design. And I’m pairing it with another of my favourites… butterflies!

My card base is Basic White. Then I layered my piece of patterned paper on top. The next layer is a Blackberry Bliss butterfly tag I made using a special die from the Beautiful Butterflies Hybrid Embossing Folder. To make this tag I ran the same piece of cardstock through the Stampin’ Cut & Emboss machine twice, making sure to line up the die using the line on the die when I flipped the cardstock around.

Next I added a detailed Basic White butterfly to the outside of the tag using the Fine Tip Glue Pen. And on the inside of the tag I added a Basic White butterfly outline. I did need to trim the antennae and the bottom of the body a bit to fit. Then on top of that I added a Blackberry Bliss sentiment from the More than Autumn stamp set.

Bloom Impressions
Bloom Impressions

I’m a little sad that the Bloom Impressions Designer Series Paper is retiring. But I’m glad I still have some left!

Don’t miss out on getting this pretty pack of patterned paper for FREE… or any of the other great free and exclusive Sale-a-bration products! You can find them all here in my online shop.

Want more ideas for this colourful pack of patterned paper? Check out another card I made using the Bloom Impressions Designer Series Paper here.