Everyday Arches

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

Monochromatic Z-Fold Card

I enjoy a good monochromatic card. And I definitely enjoy making a Z-fold card. So I thought to myself why not put them together and make a monochromatic Z-fold card! This one features the free Sale-a-bration Designer Series Paper pack Bloom Impressions. The colours in this pack of patterned paper are so bright and colourful. It definitely makes me look at the calendar to see how many more days there are until Spring… 26 by the way.

For this card design I went with a simpler pattern from the Bloom Impressions Designer Series Paper pack. This one is Coastal Cabana. So that’s what I used for the card base and ink for the sentiment. The sentiment is from the Beautiful Butterflies stamp set. I also added a splash of Lost Lagoon. This is one of my favourite colours. And it’s still in the same colour family so it still makes this a monochromatic card.

I placed two panels of the Bloom Impressions patterned paper on the card base. Then on top of the outside panel I have 3 Basic White butterflies. Well mostly Basic White. Before I die cut them using the Beautiful Butterflies dies, I stamped the splatter image a bunch of times on a piece of Basic White cardstock using Lost Lagoon ink. I wanted at least a little bit of colour on the butterflies. Then I popped up the sentiment, which I punched using the To the Point Label punch, with a couple of Stampin’ Dimensionals. But I only put the dimensionals on one side to make sure that when the sentiment overlapped it wouldn’t stick to the “inside” of the card.

Monochromatic Z-Fold Card

You can get the patterned paper I used for this monochromatic Z-fold card for free as part of Sale-a-bration. Check out all the products you can get with an order of $75 or more in my online shop. You have one more week to take advantage. Don’t miss out!

And if you’d like to check out another card I made using the Beautiful Butterflies bundle, you can check that out here.

What’s a Hybrid Embossing Folder

Recently Stampin’ Up! introduced hybrid embossing folders to their list of products. When I saw that I was like, what’s a hybrid embossing folder?! It’s definitely a lot simpler than it sounds. Basically it’s an embossing folder and set of dies that you can use simultaneously. Before this if we wanted to emboss and die cut the same piece of cardstock, we needed to do it separately. So I’m loving that these folders make it easier for us!

Adoring Hearts in the Annual catalogue and Beautiful Butterflies from the new spring mini are the two Stampin’ Up! has right now. The folders are on the bigger side… 6″ x 6″. So you’ll need to use the full size Stampin’ Cut & Emboss machine. And when you run it through the machine you want to use the plates for a 3D embossing folder. These guys are a little thicker than the standard folders so you don’t need very many plates.

The other thing that’s just as awesome as embossing and die cutting at the same time, is the fact that you don’t have to worry about the dies moving around! The hybrid embossing folders are designed to the dies sit almost inside the embossing folder, so the cardstock lies in the folder the same as any other.

Here’s my first project using the Adoring Hearts hybrid embossing folder. I can’t wait to use it some more!

What's a Hybrid Embossing Folder

I hope that helps answer the question of what’s a hybrid embossing folder!

Check out another card I made using this same pack of patterned paper here. And stay tuned for more with Adoring Hearts! In the meantime you can find in my online shop here.

Bloom Impressions

I gotta say, at first I wasn’t so sure about the Bloom Impressions Designer Series Paper from the new Sale-a-bration catalogue. Part of me was wondering if some of the patterns were too busy. But I’m glad I got it anyway! Yes, there are a couple designs that aren’t my favourite, but there are lots of other great designs in this pack of patterned paper. So I decided to use if for the Make and Take for my catalogue launch party last weekend.

I used a card design that let me use a couple different designs of DSP. And the two I chose are actually on the same sheet, just different sides. From there I pulled a couple of the colours from the Designer Series Paper for my colour combo; Peach Pie and Shy Shamrock. I haven’t used the newest In Colours in a while so this was fun! They’re bright and colourful just like the DSP. And these colours are great for Spring, which is only 6 weeks away!

The card base is Peach Pie. Then I layered a piece of Basic White and Shy Shamrock cardstock on top. On top of that I layered the two different designs of patterned paper. Next I wrapped some of the White 1/4″ Diagonal Trim from the combo pack (the other colour is Petal Pink) around all three layers and added a bow. Then I popped it all up with a bunch of Stampin’ Dimensionals.

The sentiment is from the new Hugs for Love stamp set. I stamped that with Peach Pie and then used Shy Shamrock for the fun border. Then I punched it out with the coordinating punch and layered it on top of my Designer Series Paper. To finish it off I added a few Brushed Brass Butterflies. I love these little guys! And not just because I love butterflies. They just add a little something when you want something but don’t want to use jewels or gems.

Bloom Impressions

The Bloom Impressions Designer Series Paper pack has definitely won me over! I’m looking forward to crafting with it some more.

In the meantime, check out another card I made using another great pack of patterned paper, Beautiful Bokeh, here.

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Beautiful Bokeh

The new catalogues are here! So lots of new, fun things to get crafty with! And the new Beautiful Bokeh Designer Series Paper pack from the Beautiful Butterflies suites is one of my favourites! Lots of great colours in this patterned paper pack. And I love the bokeh design. This is a great patterned paper to use as the focal point of your card design. And that’s what I did with this design.

I’m using the Berry Burst design for this card. So I used Berry Burst ink to stamp my sentiment from the new Hugs for Love stamp set. Around the sentiment I stamped a fun border from the same set with Tuxedo Black Memento ink. Then I used the coordinating punch and popped it up with some Stampin’ Dimensionals.

Behind the Designer Series Paper I have a Basic Black card mat. It really helps that Berry Burst Designer Series Paper stand out. And the card base is Basic White.

On top of the Designer Series Paper I didn’t add too much. It doesn’t need much. I popped up a couple of Paper Butterfly Accents by cutting some Mini Stampin Dimensionals in half. Then I added a few Brushed Brass Butterflies.

Beautiful Bokeh

I just love the Beautiful Bokeh Designer Series Paper! It’s super easy to make beautiful handmade cards with a pack of patterned paper like this.

Check out another card I made using the Paper Butterfly Accents here. And stay tuned for more from this suite.

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Loaded Envelope

So last weekend I had my small but mighty team over to my place for a Christmas party! We played some fun Christmas themed games, we had yummy treats and of course we did some crafting. And as a way to show some my team how much I appreciate them I always give them some extra goodies. It’s usually a combination of crafting supplies and chocolate. This year I created a Loaded Envelope for each of them. Inside I was able to fit a flavoured pack of hot chocolate, some transparent sticky notes, a gel pen and some ribbon, amoung other things.

I’ve made this once before and I really like it for a couple of reasons. The big one is because of how much stuff I can fit into it… I probably could have fit more! And the other reason that I really like making loaded envelopes is because of how easy they are to make. All you need is a 12″ x 12″ piece of patterned paper and whatever you want to add on to decorate.

For mine I used designs from the Nests of Winter Designer Series Paper. To create it you’ll score the patterned paper at 3 1/4″ on the left and right hand side. Then at the bottom, you’ll score it at 3 3/4″. Next you fold in the two sides and then fold the bottom up. Before you secure it all with Tear & Tape Adhesive, fold out the corners at the top of the envelope.

To decorate I added a bird from a different design from the Nests of Winter Designer Series Paper pack. And for the sentiment I used the Christmas Labels bundle.

Loaded Envelope

Everyone loved their loaded envelope… and all the goodies inside! I’ll definitely be making this again.

If you want to check out another project I made using the Nests of Winter Designer Series Paper, you can check that out here!

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Basket Weave Technique

I really like the Take a Bow pack of Designer Series Paper. But I didn’t get it at first because I wasn’t sure if I wanted to get the punch that goes with it. I do love the idea of being able to make my own bows! But with a full time job, 2 kids (4 if you count Leo and my partner) and all my cardmaking, I just don’t have the time. In the end I decided to just get the Designer Series Paper pack. And one of the first ideas I had for a card design uses a basket weave technique.

So for this design I chose 2 fairly simple designs. And for colours, I chose to use 2 different coloured designs; Real Red and Garden Green. This card would also look nice with designs with different shades of the same colour.

To create the basket weave technique I simple wove one strip in front of and behind the other. And then with the next strip I wove that design in front of and behind the ones I didn’t with the last strip. Then I just repeated this until I used up all my strips of patterned paper.

To adhere it all to my piece of Very Vanilla cardstock I used Multi-Purpose Liquid Glue. I definitely like that it gives you some time to get things in place! Behind this I have a Real Red card base and a Garden Green card mat. On top of all that, I kept it very simple! I just stamped a sentiment from the Christmas Labels stamp set with Garden Green ink. Then I die cut it with one of the coordinating dies. (I’m so sad this bundle is retiring!) To finish is off I popped it up with some Stampin’ Dimensionals. And then I added a couple Rhinestone Basic Jewels.

Basket Weave Technique

The basket weave technique is a great way to use up all those scraps of patterned paper! And we all know we have plenty of those in our craft stash, lol! Plus you don’t need to add much of anything else on top… just a sentiment.

Check out another card I made using the Christmas Labels bundle here. And don’t forget this bundle, like all the others that are retiring, are only available while supplies last!

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Quilting Technique

I dipped back into my stash of Winter Meadow Designer Series Paper for my recent Fancy Fold Christmas Card class. And it remined me how much I love this pack of patterned paper! So when I was thinking of what card designs I wanted this week, I decided I wanted something that let me feature the Designer Series Paper. In the end, I chose to do the quilting technique.

I pulled from the Winter Meadow Designer Series Paper pack for my colours. For my strips of patterned paper I’m using Misty Moonlight, Pretty Peacock and Smoky Slate. And for my card base and ink I’m using Misty Moonlight. This is one of my favourite colours!

To create the quilted card front I cut long 1/2″ strips and layered them onto a piece of Basic White cardstock. The quilting technique isn’t a difficult one. But you do want to take your time. I started with the 3 strips across the centre and then switched the angle for the sides. To maximize my patterned paper, I only do a few strips at a time. That way I can use almost all of the strip.

On top of that I added a sentiment from the Christmas Labels stamp set. I stamped it using Misty Moonlight ink. Then I die cut it with one of the coordinating dies. Next I popped it up with some Stampin’ Dimensionals. And then to finish it off I added a few Rhinestone Basic Jewels.

Quilting Technique

I think the next time I try the quilting technique, I’m going to try a different pattern. Doesn’t this one look like a wrapped present?!

Check out another card I made using Misty Moonlight and the Winter Meadow Designer Series Paper pack here.

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Monochromatic Christmas Card

I’m definitely getting into the Christmas spirit with my crafting! And one pack of patterned paper that I love for this time of year is the Winter Meadow Designer Series Paper pack. I’m so glad that Stampin’ Up! decided to keep it after last year’s Holiday Mini catalogue. The colours and designs are so pretty and it’s not you’re traditional Christmas paper. So for this design I wanted to show it off the paper and this design is a great one for creating a background. It’s also great for a monochromatic Christmas card!

So Misty Moonlight is the main colour for this one. And then on top of the Designer Series Paper I layered on a piece of Basic White cardstock. The sentiment is from the Christmas Labels stamp set and of course it’s stamped in Misty Moonlight ink. Then on top of that I stamped the pair of birds from the Winterly Tree Tops stamp set. I die cut it with the coordinating die and then sadly there isn’t a Misty Moonlight Watercolour Pencil, so I lightly coloured them with Night of Navy. And added a little more in certain spots for some shadows and depth.

Finally to finish it off, I popped up the birds with some Stampin’ Dimensionals. And then added a few Rhinestone Basic Jewels.

Monochromatic Christmas Card

I love a monochromatic card! And so crafting this monochromatic Christmas card was a nice bonus.

As we get closer to Christmas I’ll share some more Christmas cards. But in the meantime sign up for my weekly newsletter! Right now we’re in the midst of my 12 Weeks of Christmas. Extra, exclusive, holiday themed projects to help you get ready for the holidays and avoid some of the stress that comes with it! Sign up here.

You can also check out another card I made using the Winterly Tree Tops bundle here.

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