Nutz about Stamping

You need to learn these cool paper tricks

On 4 August the fabulous new mini catalog goes live and I have a couple of really cool paper tricks to share with you using the soon-to-be-released Trimming the Town product suite. 

The Trimming the Town designer paper is part of the Trimming the Town product suite - a super fun collection of products that is perfect for Christmas but for so many other projects too. 

Here's a photo of the Coming Home bundle, which is part of this suite - and is needed for my paper tricks:

I used this bundle along with the Old World Paper 3D embossing folder to create amazing texture on the card layer:

Old World Paper 3D Embossing Folder
$10.00

 

 

 

I explain the paper tricks in the video below. I also share bonus tips along the way. 

 

Stamp set: Coming Home (bundle, 155144)

Ink: None

Paper and cutting dimensions:
        Misty Moonlight: 8 1/2" x 5 1/2"
        Whisper White: 5" x 3 1/4"; 2 1/2" x 5"
        Trimming The Town: 5" x 2 1/4"

Other: Trimming the Town designer series paper (153291); Woven Threads sequin assortment (149498); Old World Paper 3D embossing folder (153200); Stampin' Seal, die-cutting machine

Here's my video - thanks for watching!

Have you ever created a pretty card with triangles?

I think this is the first time that the Paper Craft Crew card map challenge has used triangles as the main image - how fun!

 

The trick for me was to find a phrase that would fit on the bigger triangle because somehow that's what this map 'spoke' to me. 

I decided on the "just saying hello" phrase from the Tasteful Touches stamp set.

Tasteful Touches Cling Stamp Set
$23.00

 

 

 

 

 

I love this set - it has an unusual font for its phrases and some unusual image combinations too. I can see so many options with the images. 

I also decided early on that I would use the Forever Greenery paper as a background layer. I chose a pattern that I haven't used yet - it just seemed to work for the layout this week. 

Forever Greenery Designer Series Paper
$11.50

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the colors in this paper pack in case you want to have a perfect match. Tip: I often order paper packs at the same time as I order designer paper. That way I am good to craft when everything arrives - no mismatches for me!

• Garden Green
• Just Jade
• Pear Pizzazz
• Pretty Peacock
• Shaded Spruce
• Soft Sea FoamI

Although Stampin' Up! now has a pack of triangles dies, I don't own them (yet, ha!). So I had to cut triangles using my paper cutter - not difficult but it is a bit difficult I chose Soft Sea Foam as my base and for the banner strip and Garden Green for the ink and smaller triangle image. For a final touch of sparkle, I added three Whale of a Time sequins. 

My card is very simple, to be honest. But it is still striking, don't you think?

Why don't you try this week's challenge. Triangles are fun so give them a try soon. If you want to see what the other crew members created this week, click here to head over to the Paper Craft Crew site. 

Do you know how to use doilies on cards?

It's time for another Pick Five challenge - join me, why don't you?

This week the Pick Five products are:

 

1. Pattern paper

2. Doily

3. Wood veneer

4. Texture

5. Inked edges 

 

Here's how I developed my card.

 

First, I looked through my paper stash and quickly realized that I could combine two items on the Pick Five list: pattern paper and wood veneer. Have you seen the In Good Taste designer paper pack?

 

In Good Taste Designer Series Paper
$21.00

 

 

 

 

 

And then, I thought - texture. I decided to emboss the In Good Taste paper to add texture to the layer. I used the Old World Paper embossing folder:

 

Old World Paper 3D Embossing Folder
$10.00

 

 

 

 

I am really happy I did because it makes a real visual difference. The final decision was a bit surprising: which stamp set?

 

Based on the paper colors I decided to use Wildly Happy:

Wildly Happy Cling Stamp Set
$21.00

 

 

 

 

But I didn't want my card to be a baby card so I decided to use a phrase from the Tasteful Touches set. I love this set - come back tomorrow because I have a new idea to show you using another phrase from it. 

Tasteful Touches Cling Stamp Set (English)
$23.00

 

 

 

 

 

I layered my stamped and colored image onto a doily. Stampin' Up! doesn't sell round doilies anymore but I have some left over and thought: why not, maybe you do too! We do sell square doilies - check out page 153 in the Annual Catalog to see what these look like. 

 

I added three sequins from the Woven Threads sequins assortment to complete my card. I also sponged ink around the circle layer, the phrase layer, and all four sides of the paper layer to add an antique look. 

 

Here's my card:

 

 

Are you going to give this week's Pick five idea a try? 

How to make a beautiful motivational card

Is is possible to make a card without stamp sets and inks? Absolutely and in today's card idea and video I am going to show you how. 

The products I am going to use on my card come from the World of Good product suite:

World Of Good Suite Collection
$104.50

 

 

 

 

Do you have to buy the entire suite? No. But I am not sure why you wouldn't if you love it as much as I do. I did promise that today's card uses no stamps or ink, didn't I? So you could just order the paper and card pack at my online store. (see link on the right side of this page)

From this suite I chose to use the World of Good designer paper:

World Of Good Specialty Designer Series Paper
$15.00

 

 

 

 

And along with the paper I used the World of Good Memories & More Card Pack:

World Of Good Memories & More Card Pack
$11.00

 

 

 

 

 

A lot of crafters think that this card pack is only for memory keeping and completely miss the fact that this product has other uses, like I am going to show you today. 

This card is soooo easy to make. All you do is cut card stock, adhere them together, add the card with the phrase and three stickers. Taa-daa!

 

Stamp set: none

Ink: none

Paper and cutting dimensions:
        Whisper White: 8 1/2" x 5 1/2"
        World of Good: 5 1/4" x 4"
        Misty Moonlight: 4 1/2" x 3 1/2"
                

Other: World of Good Memories & More Card Pack (153600); World of Good Specialty designer series paper (152491); Stampin' Seal (152813)

And don't forget the envelope! Sometimes all you need is a little touch to make it fun too. 

I created a video showing you how to make this card, along with several bonus tips that will take your card to the next level. 

 

Here's an easy way to make a card

Have you seen my first Pick Five challenge card? I had so much fun making that card that when I saw this weekend's Pick Five I decided to jump right in again. 

Here are the five products we had to use?

-a tag

-staples

-washi tape

-something green

-twine or string

 

I really like the idea of mandatory products that we have to use because it forces us to look through our crafting supplies with new eyes. 

 

Here's what I chose:

 

- the tag was from the Tasteful Labels dies

 

Tasteful Labels Dies
$31.00

 

 

 

 

- the staple - well that is obvious isn't it?

 

- washi tape - this is where I got completely stuck. I freely confess that I dug through some old stash and found a pack of unopened washi tape that was a birthday present from some friends this year. And two strips matched the colors I had decided to use on my card.

 

- something green: I just got the Coming Home bundle and immediately thought that I would die-cut the trees using Just Jade. A perfect match to the washi tape, color-wise!

 

 

This bundle is not available for purchase just yet - it will be on 4 August when the next Mini Catalog goes live. You are going to love it!

 

Back to the Pick Five: 

 

- twine or string: Linen thread! 

 

I chose an extra element for my card because I thought the background was a little plain. I took the Night of Navy layer and embossed it using the Dainty Diamonds embossing folder:

Dainty Diamonds 3D Embossing Folder
$9.00

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pattern is subtle but also very pretty. Unusual for my card design but it just works. 

 

Here's my Coming Home Pick Five card: 

 

 

Why don't you give this idea a try? Take the Pick Five challenge and see what you can come up with. 

How to make a fun welcome neighbor card

Today I am excited to introduce a new bundle in the Mini catalog, called Coming Home. I used this bundle and the new Plaid Tidings paper to make a fun 'welcome neighbor' card idea. This card is also perfect for someone who bought a new house, is moving to a new house, a student going off to college, and more - all you have to do is change the phrase. 

Have you seen the new Mini catalog?

If you have placed an order from me in the past few months you were selected to have a catalog mailed directly to you from Stampin' Up! If not, no worries! The catalog will be available for you to download from my blog on 4 August. 

As I said I used new paper and a new bundle to make my card. Here are some photos I took of these products:

Coming Home bundle:

Plaid Tidings designer paper:

 

Here's my Coming Home Welcome Neighbor! card:

Stamp sets: Forever Fern (152559); Coming Home (bundle, 155144)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Stampin' Blends: Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Basic Black

Paper and cutting dimensions:
        Cinnamon Cider: 8 1/2" x 5 1/2"; 1/4" x 2 3/8"
        Plaid Tidings: 4" x 5 1/4"
        Whisper White: 4 1/4" x 3"'; 4" x 3 1/4"

Other: Plaid Tidings designer series paper (153527); Stitched Labels dies (146828); Early Espresso Faux Suede ribbon (152472); die-cutting machine

Here's my video - thanks for watching! (tip: don't miss my bonus ideas along the way)

How to rock a card map challenge

Today's Paper Craft Crew card map challenge is simple to follow but I am going to show you how to go beyond the basics and make it rock. 

The elements on this map are pretty basic:

 

The first thing I decided was that the main background to my card would use the Forever Greenery designer paper. I just didn't want a plain background that the card map indicates. Yes, I could add a wash of color like on the map but I have some amazing paper and wanted to use it. And using a background design is one way to rock a card. 

Another part that helped me decide to use designer paper was the leaf image in the background. I knew that I could stamp a background but I could also use one of the Forever Flourishing dies. So I chose a die and then matched it to a piece of the Forever Greenery paper. 

Next it was time to choose a phrase and the Best Year stamp set was a good fit because of the phrase layouts - most are horizontal and would match the rectangle element on the map. 

Best Year Cling Stamp Set (English)
$20.00

 

 

 

 

Rather than use scalloped rectangles I decided on a more modern touch to rock my card: Rectangle Stitched dies. 

The strip across the front is the same designer paper that I used in the background - and it makes a nice contrast. I could have used a plain cardstock strip, but a pattern is yet another way to rock my card. 

The final touch? Four greenish sequins from Whale of a Time. I have used this new pack a lot in the past week. It seems like the colors of the sequins are a great match for many designer papers in the Annual Catalog. 

Ready to see my card? 

Now it is your turn - try this week's card map challenge and see what you will create. And make sure you add elements that will rock your card too!

If you want to see what the other design crew members created for this challenge click here. 

Here's how to take your projects to the next level!

Do you want a playful way to take your projects to the next level? I will show you how using the new Foam Adhesive Sheets!

Foam Adhesive Sheets
$8.00

 

 

 

 

You can take these foam adhesive sheets and die-cut them to make a colorful and striking card idea. 

For my card, I also used the Forever Greenery designer paper and the Forever Flourishing dies. I have made a lot of projects using this product suite to scroll back through my blog to see more ideas. 

Forever Greenery Designer Series Paper
$11.50

Forever Flourishing Dies
$36.00

 

A lot of crafters feel you can only use the stamp set that goes with a pack of dies (bundled) but that's not so. I encourage you to use your dies without the stamp set and use your stamp sets without your dies. This will help broaden your crafting experience. 

Last week I created a video introduced the Playful Alphabet dies and used these to make a gorgeous scrapbook page. (Click here to see the post and video) On that video I promised that I would show you a card idea - which is what I did today. 

First, let's have a second look at the Playful Alphabet dies:

Playful Alphabet Dies
$34.00

There are so many uses for these fun dies and I think today's card will blow your mind!

 

Stamp set: none

Ink: none

Paper and cutting dimensions:
        Pear Pizzazz: 8 1/2" x 5 1/2"; 3 1/2" x 2 1/2" 
        Forever Greenery paper: 4" x 5 1/4"; scrap approx. 3 3/4" x 1"
        Pretty Peacock: 1 1/4" x 4"
        Whisper White: 1 1/2" x 4"

Other: Foam Adhesive Sheets (152815); Forever Flourishing dies (152714); Playful Alphabet dies (152706); Whale of a Time sequins (152461); Multipurpose Liquid Glue, die-cutting machine

Here's my video - watch for my bonus tips along the way! 

You need to learn this cool style of card

I love learning new things, don't you? And after all these years of crafting I recently discovered Slimline cards and this whole new cool crafting movement. 

I am sure this style of card has been around for a while but somehow I forgot about it until I stumbled across a Facebook group that focuses on slimline cards. Many of these use dies to create the effect but I thought I would give it a go without these extra accessories. 

I have been so excited about slimline cards that I even made a video tutorial showing my first card idea, using the World of Good product suite - click here to see it and a different layout idea. 

Today I want to show you my second slimline card, using Flourishing Phrases. I love the this bundle and all the fun products that will help you make any card style look amazing. 

Forever Greenery Designer Series Paper
$11.50

Forever Flourishing Dies
$36.00

 

I chose only two of the products in the suite for my card. What I think is cool is the I didn't use stamps or ink. 

Here's my card:

And here's how to make it:

Supplies:

• Stamp Sets – none
• Card Stock – Whisper White (100730); Pretty Peacock (150880)
• Stamp Pads – none
• Misc. – Forever Greenery Designer Series Paper (DSP) (152492); Forever Flourishing dies (152714); Well Written dies (151816); Pearl Basic Jewels (144219); Multipurpose Liquid Glue; Stampin’ Seal (152813); Stampin’ Cut & Emboss machine (149653)

Measurements:  

• Whisper White:     8 1/2” x 7:                  3 ½” x 1”
• Pretty Peacock:     three pieces 2 ¾” square; three pieces 3 ½” x 2 ¾”
• DSP:                    three pieces 2 ½” square   

Instructions:

1. Fold Whisper White cardstock in half and crease to create ‘slimline’ card base.
2. Adhere DSP to Pretty Peacock squares using Stampin’ Seal.
3. Adhere DSP squares to card front using Stampin’ Seal.
4. Die-cut three Pretty Peacock branches. Adhere to card front using Multipurpose Liquid Glue.
5. Die-cut ‘miss’ and ‘you’ using Whisper White. Adhere to card front using Multipurpose Liquid Glue.
6. Add one Pearl Basic Jewel to dot the ‘i’ in miss.

 

Join the fun with our easy pick five challenge

By now you will likely know that I love a good card challenge, whether it be a card map, a color challenge or recently a 'Pick Five' challenge. 

I think I love these challenges because they stretch my creativity, I learn new things and I become super motivated to craft. 

This weekend another Pick Five challenge was posted. Here are the five items we were to use:

• something gold
• 1 star (minimum)
• blue paper
• ribbon/twine
• torn paper

I had no problem with any of these items this week. I immediately thought of the Stitched Stars dies:

Stitched Stars Dies
$38.00

 

 

 

I love the faux stitched edges on may of these dies - they add a touch of elegance to your projects. 

So, that covers the star requirement. Next: blue. That was a no-brainer for me. I know I wanted to use Night of Navy for my card base. And...this week I got a new embossing folder. It's called: Dainty Diamonds - I love how pretty the design is! I used it for the card base because I wanted some additional visual interest. (not a requirement for the Pick Five challenge though)

Dainty Diamonds 3D Embossing Folder
$9.00

 

 

 

 

Next I dug through my designer paper stash and found a sheet of World Of Good paper that was Night of Navy and has copper elements in the design. I chose a strip for my card front and tore it, which checked off another requirement. 

World Of Good Specialty Designer Series Paper
$15.00

 

 

 

 

That choice, then, helped me decide that my stars would be die-cut using the Copper Foils sheets. (I have used Copper Foil a ton lately - two sheets in a pack go a very long way) 

My last requirement was ribbon/twine. I recently purchased a pack of ribbon called Playing with Patterns and it has a bolt of Night of Navy in it - see how things fell into place so nicely? (the other two colors are Purple Posy and Coastal Cabana)

 

Playing With Patterns Ribbon Combo Pack
$10.50

 

 

 

Here's my Pick Five challenge card:

Why not join our Pick Five challenge and see what you can create this week. You may be pleasantly surprised at what you will end up with. I know I was!

See that simple can also be beautiful

This week's Paper Craft Crew challenge is a testament that simple can also be beautiful or even elegant:

 

You may have seen that I have been using my Beautiful World bundle a lot in the past couple of weeks and again I turned to this fab bundle for today's challenge:

Beautiful World Bundle
$48.50

 

 

 

 

 

There is a stamp in this set that I have not used yet so I decided to try it on my Cinnamon Cider card base. I wanted the image to be more subtle so stamped 'off' onto a scrap piece of grid paper before stampin 'on' the card base. That way the image would be noticeable but not compete with the phrase on the card. 

I love the Rectangle Stitched dies and thought it would be fun to layer two of them to frame the phrase. 

Next was to consider what to use for the 'flower' and the 'banner' on the card map. I decided that rather than a flower I would use the quill and ink. Love it! And for the banner I used one of the banner stickers in Beautiful World Memories & More card pack. I chose to put my banner sticker behind the phrase instead of on top - I prefer the subtle look this time. 

World Of Good Memories & More Card Pack
$11.00

 

 

 

 

 

When thinking about card map challenges, consider combining products from a suite like I did for my Beautiful World card below:

If you want to see what the other design crew members created for this week's challenge, click here. And why not try the map yourself and share your creation over on the Paper Craft Crew site? We'd love to see what you made too. 

What you get when you combine juicy fruit and happy faces

Combine juicy fruit and happy smiley faces for bright and fresh projects. The Cute Fruit Cards & Tags Collection includes enough supplies to create as many cards and tags as you can imagine.

Cute Fruit Collection
$58.25

 

 

 

 

No guesswork is needed - we've done it for you! Mix and match the images and greetings to create projects for any sweet friends. The Two-Step Stampin' allows you layer images in multiple colors. You'll have so much fun combining the images to create a variety of fruit! The name certainly suits the feeling you'll get when creating fun project ideas that are oh, so cute!

Here's just one card that you can make with this amazing kit. 

 

Supplies:

• Stamp Sets & Dies – Cute Fruit (153301); Stitched So Sweetly Dies (151690); Tasteful Labels Dies (144671);
• CardStock – Granny Apple Green Cardstock (146991)); Whisper White Cardstock (100730); Whisper White Thick Cardstock (140272); 2020-2022 In Color 6” x 6” Designer Series Paper (153070)
• Stamp Pads – Daffodil Delight Ink (147050); Granny Apple Green Ink (147095);
• Misc. – Paper Snips (103579); Multipurpose Liquid Glue (110755); Mini Glue Dots (103683); Dimensionals (104430); Stampin’ & Seal (152813)

Measurements: 

• Card Base: Whisper White Thick – 4 1/4” x 11” scored at 5 1/2”
• Card Front: Granny Apple Green – 3 3/4” x 5”
• Bumblebee In Color Strip - 1 3/8” x 4 1/4”
• Stitched Scalloped Rectangle: Whisper White - 3 1/8” x 4 3/8”
• Pineapple: Whisper White - 1 5/8” x 3 1/4”
• Sentiment Strip: Whisper White - 1” x 3 1/8”
• Inside Layer: Whisper White – 3 3/4” x 5”
• Bumblebee In Color Strip - 11/16” x 3 1/2”

Instructions:

• Stamp the Sentiment with Granny Apple Green Ink.
• Die cut Sentiment with Stitched Banner Die from Tasteful Labels Dies.
• Stamp the Pineapples with Daffodil Delight Ink (full strength on the one you will fussy cut, stamping off once for the Stitched Scalloped Rectangle)
• Stamp the Pineapple Leaves with Granny Apple Green Ink (full strength  on the one you will fussy cut, stamping off once for the Stitched Scalloped Rectangle)
• Fussy Cut the Single Pineapple with your Paper Snips.
• Die cut the Stitched Scalloped Rectangle with the largest Die from the Stitched So Sweetly Dies.

Assemble the card:

• Fold and burnish the Card Base with a bone folder.
• Adhere the Card Front to the Card base with Stampin’ Seal or Liquid Glue.
• Adhere the Bumblebee Strip with Stampin’ Seal or Liquid Glue.
• Adhere the Stitched Scalloped Rectangle to the Card Front with Stampin’ Seal or Liquid Glue.
• Adhere the Single Pineapple with Dimensionals.
• Adhere the Sentiment Strip with Mini Dimensionals and a Mini Glue dot.
• Adhere the Bumblebee Strip to the Inside Layer with Stampin’ Seal or Liquid Glue.
• Adhere the Inside Layer to the inside of the Card Base with Stampin’ Seal or Liquid Glue.

It's time for a color challenge

This week's Paper Craft Crew challenge is a color challenge! I love being playful with colors and so really looked forward to giving this one a try. 

I will admit right off though: pink is not my favorite color to craft with. So I decided to go with:

• Night of Navy
• Pear Pizzazz
• Daffodil Delight

I knew right away that I wanted to use the Forever Fern bundle and combine it with the Tasteful Touches bundle. I think these two bundles pair very well - Tasteful Touches adds an eclectic tone to the more conservative Forever Fern - which adds interest to your creation. 

Tasteful Touches Bundle (English)
$48.50

Forever Fern Bundle (English)
$54.00

I decided to stamp two flowers from Tasteful Touches using Night of Navy and add a touch of Daffodil Delight using my Stampin' Blends to the center of each flower. After I fussy cut them out I added two die-cut Pear Pizzazz branches behind. The layer of Forever Greenery paper pulled it all together - even though one of the colors is Pretty Peacock, you can't tell when against Night of Navy. 

After I had everything laid out on the card front I saw too much white so stamped two decorative Night of Navy images to block out some of the white. 

Here's my card:

Why not join our color challenge? Which three colors would you choose - perhaps you will challenge my dislike of pink?

Why not try combining our new In Colors:

• Misty Moonlight
• Magenta Madness
• Bumble Bee

If you want to see what the other design crew members created for this week's color challenge, click here. 

Are you ready for an exciting pick five challenge?

I am on a scrapbooking Facebook group called Scrapbooking for Newbies and I am really enjoying the crafters there. They are such a friendly group and they love to share their creations with everyone. I am amazed at how many pages the group leaders can crank out.

That is not me at all, lol. I labor over every photo, every paper choice, every embellishment and so on. I will even confess that it takes me about a week to make one single layout. 

I once said something about this to one of the leaders, who found me somehow on the internet, and you know what she said? Well, share the cards you make with us. We'd love to see them. 

{How cool is that!}

So this past weekend I popped over to their page and saw this challenge posted:

Anyone else ready for a challenge to get your creative mojo flowin’? Here’s a random Pick Five challenge for you! You take my list of five items and use each element to make a layout. You can have more things on your layout, but you have to have one of each of the five items on your layout. Ready?

You have to have:
-stamping
-stickers
-white cardstock background
-a heart
-a label

That’s it! I hope you will join me and get some scrapbooking (er....card making for me) done this weekend!

Well I got right to it because I love a challenge and this one was unique for me and I thought it would be fun to try. 

I am sure it will come as no surprise that I chose my World of Good product suite for this challenge because I immediately thought of the Memories & More sticker sheet and hadn't cracked it open yet. 

World Of Good Memories & More Card Pack
$11.00

 

 

 

 

 

So I did and, seriously, my card fell together in just a couple of minutes!

Why not have some fun with the same challenge? Have a look at your supplies, pick five, and get crafting! If you post your card on Pinterest or Instagram please let me know. I would love to have a look!

Tip: if you scrapbook and want a fun group to join, come on over to Scrapbooking for Newbies. See you there. 

Learn how to make slimline cards

I am pretty excited to share my card idea and video with you today!

This past week I stumbled across a new kind of card - called Slimline cards. I was surprise to discover a whole set of crafters out there making slimline cards and I thought it would be fun to try and to show you this style too. Not only did I make a slimline card but I made a video as well - so you could see step-by-step how to make the card along with some bonus tips. 

My first slimline card was created using the World of Good product suite - you know this is my fave in the new Annual catalog:

I used the World of Good paper and the Beautiful World bundle for my card. And to add a unique touch I also used the Copper Foil sheets with some of the dies. 

Although my card could be seen as more masculine in tone, I think it is perfect for anyone who you appreciate. 

 

Stamp set: Beautiful World bundle (154091)

Ink: Early Espresso

Paper and cutting dimensions:
        Early Espresso: 8 1/2" x 7; two pieces 2" square; 2 1/4" square
        Whisper White: 2" square: two pieces 1 1/2" square
        Brass Foil: 2 pieces 2" square: two pieces  1 3/4" x 1"
        World of Good DSP: 3 1/4" x 8 1/4"

Other: Early Espresso Faux Suede Trim (152472); SNAIL adhesive; World of Good Specialty designer series paper (152491); Multipurpose Liquid Glue; Mini Glue Dots; Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Layering Circles dies (151770), die-cutting machine

 

Here's another view of my Beautiful World card:

Here's my video - watch for my bonus tips along the way: