3 Reasons Why I Love Stamping Kits

All this month Stampin’ Up! is having a BOGO… buy one get one 50% off on all their kits! I love these kits for a few different reasons. So I thought I would share just 3 reasons why I love stamping kits.

First of all they’re great for beginner stampers! These kits come with everything you would need to get started… adhesives, paper as well as stamps and ink for the stamping kits. The projects are usually fairly simple and they come complete with instructions. So you don’t have to worry about not knowing what to do or feel overwhelmed.

My second reason is that they’re great for on-the-go crafting! Everything comes inside a neat little box that you can stuff into your bag no matter where you’re going. There’s also extra room in the box for extra supplies. I always bring a kit with me when we go camping in the summer. My husband shakes his head when he sees my packing my crafting supplies along with our tent, but I just LOVE crafting that much!

The third reason is the variety of projects. While with the Paper Pumpkin kits you’re in for a bit of a surprise, with these kits you can see exactly what the projects are. Right now there are card kits for birthdays, Christmas and just because. There’s also some great project kits. like the Celebrate Today Magnet Board kit and the newest arrival the Love This Memory Notebook kit for all of us scrapbookers who wish we had more time to scrap.

Here are a couple of cards from the For the Guys card kit. This is a great kit for Father’s Day or whenever you’re stuck for a masculine themed card, which for me happens regularly.

These are just 3 reasons why I love stamping kits. There are lots more, but I’ve gotta leave something for you discover yourselves! Stampin’ Up! adds new kits fairly regularly, so you’ll want to check back to see what’s new. But don’t wait, some kits become temporarily unavailable. To check out all the kits either for yourself or the crafter in your life head over to my online shop.

You can also check out how I craft when we go camping here!

3 Reasons Why I Love Stamping Kits

He’s All That

June is here! Which means that summer’s coming and Father’s Day is around the corner. In just over two weeks acutally. Maybe that’s why I’ve been making so many masculine cards lately… or maybe it’s because I just love the He’s All That bundle. Either way I thought I’d share another card using this bundle. Check out this one that I made for a Paper Craft Crew vertical sketch challenge here.

For this card I went with all neutral colours. Yes navy is a neutral colour. I used Basic Black for the card base. Then I mixed in some Smoky Slate and Night of Navy. To add a little something to the smaller pieces of cardstock I embossed them. I embossed the piece of Smoky Slate using the Painted Texture 3D embossing folder. And the piece of Night of Navy cardstock with the splatter folder from the Stripes & Splatter 3D embossing folders.

For the stamping I added a little bit of ink splatter from the Quiet Meadow stamp set using Night of Navy ink. And the phrase, from the He’s All That stamp set, I stamped in Tuxedo Black Memento ink. To cut out the phrase I just used one of the coordinating dies. Then to finish it off I popped up the phrase with a few Stampin’ Dimensionals. Here it is…

He's All That

The He’s All That stamp set and dies are great for masculine cards… and for Father’s Day. These kinds of cards are definitely more of a challenge for me so I’m glad to have something that makes it so much easier! Check out the whole suite of products in my online shop. I especially love the Designer Series Paper and can’t wait to get my hands on that too!

Colouring with Happiness Abounds

I crafted this card live on my Facebook page last night. Check out the replay here. I’ve been dying to do some colouring with Happiness Abounds! This stamp set from the new Annual catalogue is a great one. The images are perfect for colouring and the phrases are so versatile.

For this card I used Stampin’ Blends to colour. At some point I’ll use the Watercolour Pencils, but I love the depth of colour you get from these alcohol-based markers. For my colour combination I went with Pool Party and Old Olive. They really compliment each other. To start I stamped a phrase and some leaves using Old Olive ink. Then for the images I’m colouring I stamped them in Tuxedo Black Memento ink. Once that was dry I could get to colouring.

When I colour with Stampin’ Blends I tend to start with the light version. Then I add the dark where I want the depth and shadows. And to finish it off I do another layer of the light Stampin’ Blends. Some people start and finish with the dark version which also looks great. It just gives a different look.

Once the coloured images dried I popped them up with a few Stampin’ Dimensionals. And of course I needed to add some bling… so I added two Rhinestone Basic Jewels on either side of the “congratulations”. Here it is…

Colouring with Happiness Abounds

If you want to add a little something more to this card you can always use the Stitched Rectangles dies. It’s an easy way to cut your cardstock and add another level to your design.

I can’t wait to do some more crafting and colouring with Happiness Abounds! Check out the recent card I crafted using the coordinating Designer Series Paper here.

Happiness Abounds

I’m finally getting to some crafting with the new Happiness Abounds bundle from the new Annual Catalogue! This is one of the sets that was at the top of my list when I first saw it. But the He’s All That bundle just snuck in front for my pre-order back in April, so I was super excited when these finally arrived. I’m also loving the Designer Series Paper that’s part of this suite! I’ve already got a bunch of ideas in my head and think I might need to order another pack.

For this card I wanted to show it all off. So I have a Basic White card base to really help keep the focus on the other colours. Most of the colour for this card comes from the piece of Happiness DSP that I used for a card mat. Then I pulled the ink colours and colour for the other flower from there. I used Flirty Flamingo and Daffodil Delight for the phrase and flowers. And I threw in a little bit of Pear Pizzazz for the stamped leaves. Then I cut out both the DSP and stamped cardstock using the Stitched Rectangles dies.

I fussy cut a couple of Daffodil Delight flowers and some leaves to layer on top. (I started this design up at my in-laws farmhouse so I didn’t have my Stampin’ Cut & Emboss machine to use the dies.) But it wasn’t too bad to do the fussy cutting. I layered the extra flowers and stamped piece of cardstock onto the DSP card mat. And then popped it ALL up using some Stampin’ Dimensionals.

To finish it off I added a few Polished Dots. I always need to add a little bit of bling to my cards. Who’s with me?!

Happiness Abounds

I’m looking forward to crafting even more with the Happiness Abounds bundle, so stay tuned for more! In the meantime you can check out this card using the He’s All That stamp set here… Father’s Day is just around the corner!

And you can check out the full Hues of Happiness suite here in my online shop.

Masculine Birthday Card

Here I go again… I decided to dive in and join another Paper Craft Crew challenge! This week it’s a vertical sketch challenge (PCC471). I really like this sketch. It’s simple and still gives some chances to do some layering. Immediately I knew I wanted to create a masculine birthday card. These types of cards are usually a little trickier for me, but this card design came fairly easily. Here’s the sketch…

Masculine Birthday Card

As soon as I decided on a masculine themed card I knew I wanted to layer some different specialty paper. The Brushed Metallic cardstock and Layering Vellum Designs are great for masculine cards. And they work great here.

To really make these papers stand out I went with a Night of Navy card base. Then to add to the masculine theme I embossed it using the Timbre 3D Embossing folder. It doesn’t come through very well in the picture sadly. To layer the vellum on top of the gold brushed cardstock I used some very light layers of Multi-Purpose Liquid Glue in strategic places. That way you don’t really notice the glue.

The phrase comes from the He’s All That stamp set. My new favourite masculine stamp set! I stamped it with Night of Navy, of course. And then used one of the coordinating dies to cut it out. Next I popped it up with a few Stampin’ Dimensionals. To finish it off I added a few of the Brushed Metallic Dots. It helps balance out the card design I think.

Masculine Birthday Card

This is a great masculine birthday card and I think I might hold on to it for my father-in-laws birthday later this summer. Check out the other entries into this week’s Paper Craft Crew vertical sketch challenge here.

And you can check out the last time I joined in on a Paper Craft Crew challenge here.

Double Dutch Fold

Fancy Folds Design Team

Another month… another Fancy Fold Design Team blog hop! I just love doing these fun folds. And this month we’re making a Double Dutch Fold card. The Gatefold card is a favourite of mine and one of my go-tos when I want to do something different. This fold totally reminds of that one. Beata from Splitcoaststampers shows a cute version here. She shares the measurements for the card base towards the beginning of the video and then check the comments for the measurement of the cardstock band.

My design came from my desire to use the Artfully Composed Designer Series Paper pack from the January-June Mini catalogue. I started by picking the patterned paper I wanted and then pulled my colours from that. I used Pear Pizzazz for the card base and Evening Evergreen for my ink colour. To add to the tropical vibe I fussy cut a couple of leaves from one of the other designs from the same pack.

The image and phrase come from the In the Moment stamp set. I cut out the image using one of the Layering Circles dies and the phrase with one of the Stitched Rectangles dies. Then the image was popped up with some Stampin’ Dimensionals. I didn’t pop up the phrase because I want it to help keep the multiple flaps somewhat closed.

Then to finish it off I added a few of the Faux Sea Glass Shapes. A different version of bling. Here’s my card…

This was such a fun and simple card to make. Make sure you keep hopping around the world to see the rest of our Double Dutch Fold cards! Next up is Mette Nordling-Shaw from Australia. Check out her card here.

And you can check out last month’s blog hop here, where we made a Double Triangle Fold.

#SimpleStamping with Orchid Oasis

It’s been a couple weeks now since the new Annual catalogue launched. And I hope you’re enjoying it as much as I’ve been! To keep up with the excitement of the new catalogue I’m doing some #SimpleStamping with Orchid Oasis, one of the new In Colours. This is for this month’s #SimpleStamping challenge from Stampin’ Up! And this time it’s just the basics; stamps, ink and paper. No extras this month and we need to use our favourite new In Colour. I love purple so Orchid Oasis was a fairly easy choice for me… although there’s a lot of great colours in the 2022-2024 In Colours.

For my card design I decided I’d take advantage of the opportunity and make some thank you cards. I have a few customers I need to thank for their orders. So I’m using the “thank you” from the Beauty of Friendship stamp set. Then to really show off the Orchid Oasis I used the Butterfly Brilliance stamp set. It’s nice and big and I love butterflies so I love any chance I get to use this set! Plus using the Stamparatus makes it super easy to stamp big images like this one, especially when you need to stamp multiples.

To really make the Orchid Oasis pop I added some Orchid Oasis cardstock behind the butterflies and the phrase. I also popped up the phrase using some Stampin’ Dimensionals.

#SimpleStamping with Orchid Oasis

I love how this card turned out! It’s nice and simple and beautiful. This bit of #SimpleStamping with Orchid Oasis is also a great example of a monochromatic card.

Check out my card for last month’s #SimpleStamping challenge here. It’s also all about the new In Colours. And if you want to check out all the new In Colours or the Stamparatus, head over to my online shop.

Book Fold Card

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to share here this week. But I knew that I wanted to do something different than my usual card design. So as I was thinking about options, the idea of making a Book Fold Card popped into my head. I’ve done this fold once or twice before, but I think this may become a fun and easy go to for me. Usually a Z-fold card is my go-to, but it’s always nice to have options! Here’s a modified Z-Fold card I made a while back.

For this design I used the Dahlia Days stamp set from the January-June Mini Catalogue. With all the excitement of the new Annual Catalogue you don’t want to forget about these guys! And the phrase comes from the Friends are like Seashells stamp set. For my colour combination, I used Crumb Cake for the card base and Petal Pink for the card mat and stamping. I also threw in a splash of Pear Pizzazz for the leaves.

To create the card base you’ll need a piece of cardstock that’s 4 1/4″ x 11″ scored at 5 1/2″ AND 4 1/2″. Adding some Tear & Tape Adhesive on the inside in between the two score lines is what gives you the book fold. Then from here you can add whatever you like! I added some Petal Pink cardstock that I embossed using the Painted Texture 3D embossing folder.

To step it up even further I added some of the Petal Pink Cotton Ribbon and cut out the stamped images and phrase using the Stitched Rectangles dies. Then I popped these up with some Stampin’ Dimensionals and of course added some bling!

Book Fold Card

This Book Fold Card turned out so pretty I may have a hard time giving it away! Lol!

To find everything you need to make your own version, head over to my online shop. And make sure to share your design. I love to see other people’s cards!

Crafting with the New Catalogue

This past weekend I celebrated the new Annual Catalogue that launched last Tuesday. I had an online and in-person party and we had a lot of fun crafting with the new catalogue! It’s so much fun getting together with people and crafting. I’ve really missed it.

For my online party I did some live crafting on my Facebook page. Check that out here. At my in-person party we made two cards. The first card uses the Bottled Happiness stamp set. I paired Parakeet Party, one of the new In Colours, with Pool Party for my colour combination. Then to add a little something more to the card I used some of the Supple Shimmer and Iridescent Specialty Papers. I also added some of the Denim Ribbon and a few Polished Dots. (You can find the Supple Shimmer Specialty Paper and the Denim Ribbon in the January-June Mini catalogue.)

Crafting with the new Catalogue

The second card uses the He’s All That bundle. I love this set! The stamp set is a nice versatile masculine set and the dies can be used with a variety of images and phrases, not just the ones from the stamp set. For this card I paired Starry Sky, another new In Colour, and Crumb Cake. And instead of Basic White cardstock I used Very Vanilla. It’s a little more subtle.

To add a distressed look to the card I tore the edges of the cardstock and the vellum. Just start with a little snip from your Paper Snips, or scissors, and tear away. The vellum came from the Vellum Layering Designs and I thought the map design works great for this card. Then to finish it off I added a few of the Brushed Metallic Dots.

Crafting with the new Catalogue

I’m having so much fun crafting with the new catalogue! And I can’t wait to share even more projects with you. In the meantime you can check it all out in my online shop. And if you live in Canada and want a copy of your very own just send me an email; inkspirationwithteresa@gmail.com. I’d be happy to send you one!

Scrappy Strip Technique with the new In Colours

I’m really liking how the 2022-2024 In Colours all work together. And so the idea popped in my head to use the Scrappy Strip Technique with the new In Colours. I haven’t done this technique in a long time. This is such an easy technique and it’s a great way to show off your Designer Series Paper. You can check out one of my last cards using this technique here.

The biggest part is cutting the Designer Series Paper into strips and then gluing them onto a piece of cardstock. You can make the strips as thick or thin as you want. And you can angle them any way you want onto the cardstock. You can even have the strips be uneven. Once the glue has dried, trim off the edges that are sticking out over the cardstock. For this design I alternated the colours and the designs. Then I popped up the whole piece of stripped cardstock onto a Basic White card base using some Stampin’ Dimensionals.

On top of my strips I wanted things to be nice and simple. To start I used the Layering Circles dies to create a vellum circle. On top of that I used some of the Meadow dies to create a Basic White bouquet for my ‘vase’. And the vase I made using the Bottled Happiness stamp set, Vintage Bottle punch and Tahitian Tide ink.

Since I already popped up the whole card mat I didn’t use any more Stampin’ Dimensionals. Although you could if you wanted to add even more depth to the card. Then to finish it off I added a few Pearl Basic Jewels.

Scrappy Strip Technique with the new In Colours

I love how colourful and bright this card is! Using the Scrappy Strip Technique with the new In Colours is definitely a win.

Check out the new Annual Catalogue in my online shop. Or if you live in Canada and want a copy of your very own, send me an email; inkspirationwithteresa@gmail.com. I’d be happy to send you one!

More Free Stuff

It’s an exciting day today! The new Annual Catalogue is out and I can’t wait for you all to see it. And what might be even more exciting is the chance at even more free stuff!

I’ve talked about Stampin’ Up!s Starter kit before. The Starter kit as it usually is gets you $165 worth of Stampin’ Up! product for only $135 (no tax or shipping on top). So $35 worth of product for free. But now and for the rest of this month you’ll get a bunch of extra new In Colour products too! What kind of new In Colour products you ask?! You’ll get a pack of In Colour grid paper, all 5 In Colour ink pads (Tahitian Tide, Sweet Sorbet, Parakeet Party, Orchid Oasis and Starry Sky), a pack of cardstock with all 5 In Colours AND a pack of In Colour 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper.

More Free Stuff

I love the new 2022-2024 In Colours. They’re so vibrant and colourful. I’m looking forward to crafting with them over the next two years.

If the more free stuff isn’t enough for you to take the plunge and join my team, maybe the discount of top quality products is. Or maybe it’s the stamping community. Since I joined Stampin’ Up! almost 10 years ago I’ve made so many great friends and met demonstrators from around the world. I call my larger Stampin’ Up! team my stamping family. I love, and miss, these people! They are so creative and fun and supportive no matter what you want to do when you sign up. And I know that when I finally do get to see them in person again it’ll feel like no time has passed… because that’s how it’s always felt.

I’m here to support you and answer any questions that you might have. And the bonus of joining my team is that you also get to be a part of my larger team. So anything I don’t know I know we’ll be able to figure out! Email me with any questions you have or if you’re ready to sign up you can do that here. I can’t wait to join you on your creative journey!

New In Colour #SimpleStamping

It’s taken me a while, but I’m finally getting around to this month’s #SimpleStamping challenge from Stampin’ Up! With the new Annual Catalogue set to launch on Tuesday the theme for this month is “new”. And we’re only allowed to use stamps, ink and paper, no extras this month! So for my design I thought I’d do some new In Colour #SimpleStamping.

I am loving these colours and how they go together! And so I wanted to create something with all 5 of the new colours; Sweet Sorbet, Parakeet Party, Starry Sky, Orchid Oasis and Tahitian Tide. To pull in all the colours I decided to use the Dahlia Days stamp set from the January-June Mini Catalogue. The variety of images in this set makes it super easy to swap in different colours.

Since I’m using all 5 colours I used a Basic White card base. It’s like a nice clean canvas! From here I added a Parakeet Party card mat that I stamped leaves on, with the same ink. Then my Basic White card front is a little smaller than I usually use so that you can see the images and colour of the mat better. To fill in the card front I started with the larger dahlia image and then went with a smaller flower and then the 3 small flowers stamp. Each time switching to a different In Colour.

The last In Colour, Starry Sky, stamped the phrase. And then I adhered the card mat, card front and phrase together with Stampin’ SEAL. To adhere these layers to the card base I used some Stampin’ Dimensionals.

New In Colour #SimpleStamping

To step this design up you can add some Rhinestone Basic Jewels or some simple ribbon. Or even die cut the phrase and/or card front using the Stitched Rectangles dies. It was tempting, but I was able to stick with my new In Colour #SimpleStamping theme. Check out my last #SimpleStamping project here.

The new Annual Catalogue launches on Tuesday. So you can wait til then to head over to my online shop or you can check out retiring product that hasn’t sold out yet.

Layered Handmade Cards

There’s lots of excitement now with the current Annual Catalogue retiring and the new Annual Catalogue launching in just one more week. I’m counting down the days til the new catalogue official launched! But in the meantime I thought I’d share a couple more card swaps from team’s January-June Mini Catalogue swap. (can’t forget about these guys!) While I tend to keep my cards fairly simple I love layered handmade cards.

This first card is by Moira Sands. She uses Petal Pink and Crumb Cake as her main colours, but there’s also some Early Espresso and Basic Black in there too. There are so many things I love about this card it’s hard to know where to start. I love the collage stamping she did to create the background. Check out my post about collage stamping here. And the tearing and sponging of different elements to give it a vintage look is great. Plus the Petal Pink Cotton Ribbon, Very Vanilla Scalloped Lace and Champagne Rhinestone Basic Jewels give it a nice extra touch.

Layered Handmade Cards

The other card is made by Diana Langman. I really like how she embossed not just the cardstock, but the strips of Designer Series Paper as well. She used the Gingham Embossing Folder for the Basic White cardstock and the Tastetful Textile 3D Embossing Folder on the Abstract Beauty DSP. And again adding the extra Pool Party Sheer Ribbon and Champagne Rhinestone Basic Jewels really steps it up. It doesn’t have to take a lot to bring your projects to the next level!

Layered Handmade Cards

I think I’ll be holding on to these layered handmade cards for inkspiration. I’m always on the look out for new card designs. And these card swaps are a great place for that! One of the many reasons why I love card swaps… and my team.

If you want to get in on the fun and join my team, you can do that here. Or if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask. Email me at inkspirationwithteresa@gmail.com.

Double Triangle Fold Card

Fancy Folds Design Team

It’s time for another Fancy Folds Design Team blog hop. And this month we’re making a Double Fold Triangle card. This is such a cute and simple card to make. Dawn, a demonstrator from the US, has a great video to help you be able to make your own.

For my card I knew I wanted to show off the Hand Penned Designer Series Paper. This patterned paper is so pretty! I just love all the colours and flowers and I’ll be sad once it’s gone in a couple of weeks. For the card base I chose one of the colours from the DSP; Pale Papaya. This has become one of my favourite colours recently.

From here I needed to add something to the front of the card. To keep with the spring, floral theme I decided to use the Timeless Tulips stamp set and punch. This is another favourite of mine for crafting this time of year. I kept it simple and just added a tulip to the card front. To stick the tulip together I used the Double Oval Punch. I punched some of another design from the same DSP pack with the scalloped oval. And then some Basic White cardstock with the plain oval.

On the plain oval I stamped a stem and leaf for my tulip. Then stuck it all together and to the card front with some Stampin’ SEAL. On another piece of Basic White cardstock I stamped another leaf and the large tulip. And then punched those out and added them to the card front the same way. I thought about popping it up with Stampin’ Dimensionals, but decided not to. To finish it off I added a few Rhinestone Basic Jewels.

I hope you like it…

Double Triangle Fold Card

To keep hopping and check out more ideas for the Double Triangle Fold card, check out Mette Nordling Shaw’s here!

And if you’d like to check out last month’s hop, the Impossible card, you can start here.

Handmade Placecards

I hope everyone enjoyed this past long weekend! And I hope you were able to spend at least some of it with loved ones. For us it was a busy weekend seeing both mine and my husband’s family. And even busier because we hosted dinner one of the nights. Since it’s been over 2 years since the last family dinner I wanted to make it even more special. So I decided to make handmade placecards.

For the design I wanted nice bright colours for Spring. I thought that the soon to be retired Hand Penned Designer Series Paper would be perfect. Lots of colours and flowers! I used Pear Pizzazz cardstock to create an easel style base. A nice green for the DSP to pop off from. And for the names I simply printed them on Basic White cardstock and cut them out using one of the Meadows dies.

Along the bottom of the place card I stamped some leaves and a stem from the Timeless Tulips stamp set (also retiring soon) using Pear Pizzazz ink. Stampin’ Up! makes tone on tone stamping so easy! Then to hold the easel in place so we could see the names I used a tulip bloom. I stamped the smallest tulip image in a few different colours; Pale Papaya, Fresh Freesia, Daffodil Delight and Calypso Coral. Then I fussy cut them and popped them up with a Stampin’ Dimensional. (I also popped up the names using Stampin Dimensionals)

These handmade placecards turned out really nicely!…

Handmade Placecards

I’m really going to miss this stamp set. It’s so versatile and I often used it with the masking technique. I actually shared a project recently here doing just that.

There’s only 2 weeks left til the new Annual Catalogue launches and the retiring products will be gone forever… if they aren’t sold out already. Don’t miss out! Head over to my online shop and grab your favourites before they’re gone.