12 Days of Christmas--Day 3!

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Hi friends! How have you been enjoying the blog hop so far? I have you have been inspired and if you have not added these bundles to your cart yet, you will be soon! There is still plenty of holiday crafting time left and baking season is really just beginning which is why I wanted to share an idea for an easy way to dress up a holiday treat.

I do love baking all throughout the year but there is something special about holiday baking. I love to participate in bake exchanges as its a fun way to get new ideas and share a recipe you love. I also enjoy making things and packaging them up cute to share with a co-worker, friend, stampin customers and my kids.

My kids have really been enjoying cookies lately and so I wanted to create a fun tag that you could use to package up individual cookies or a stack of cookies in a cello bag.

TOP TIP: Did you know I have a recipe section on my blog as well? Check my Lifestyle Tab and Brenda’s Favorite recipes to see some of my family's favorites!

I made my own tag by cutting a piece of Coastal Cabana into 2 1/4 x 4 inches and stamped the squiggles along the bottom from the Gingerbread Man stamp set is the same color. I attached the tag through a piece of Real Red Shiny Ribbon. I cut the ribbon in half so that it wasn’t as thick. I tied into a knot on the cookie bag and left the tails of the ribbon to float free. The Garden Green & White Chevron ribbon was added over the hole on the tag to act as another bow. Sometimes I find this easier than trying to get my original ribbon to cooperate!

 

The sentiment is from the Homemade Treats stamp set and because its quite large, I needed to use the 2 3/8 circle punch. I used the Stampin’ Write markers (RIP) in Real Red and Garden Green on the sentiment.

The little gingerbread man and rolling pin are from the same stamp set and are stamped using Pecan Pie ink. The adorable candy die cut is from the Gingerbread Man die set. The mini heart is from the Bee Builder Punch.

I think adding an handmade tag to your holiday baking is such a special extra touch. I plan to have a stack made and ready to go for the holidays for when I want to leave an unexpected treat for someone on their desk!

Please consider shopping with. me if you are in Canada and need some crafty supplies as it helps me continue to love what I do!

Click below to hop on over to Mel’s Inky Fingers to see what she is sharing today!

And if you want more crafting fun in the new year, consider joining Melanie and I on our inaugural Crafting Fun in the Sun Cruise!

12 Days of Christmas--Day 11!

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On the 11th day of Christmas my friend shared with me a really fun hot chocolate treat! I hope you were singing that with the tune in mind! Welcome to another 12 Days of Christmas post!

Today I wanted to share a fun treat idea inspired by the piping bag in the Homemade Treats bundle! I ordered myself some icing piping bags off Amazon and filled them up with hot chocolate, mini chocolate chips and mini marshmallows for a fun treat giving idea.

I love to make things for my customers and co-workers and thought these would make a really fun treat to leave in someone stamping spot or on their desk. It has already snowed here in Edmonton so a little cup of warm on a chilly day is a nice surprise.

I used the Real Red Shiny ribbon to tie and attach the tags for these hot chocolate bags. The first tag is on Pool Party card stock and I ran the bottom of the tag (custom cut to 2 x 4 inches) through the Plaid embossing folder. I decided to use the ‘From the Kitchen of’ stamp on both of my projects. This one is stamped and layered on Garden Green with some of the new Garden Green & White chevron ribbon layered in between the circles.

I stamped out a Real Red oven mitt (so cute) and added a cute little gingerbread man and a fun little coastal cabana icing piping bag.

On my second tag, I used Real Red and stamped the little sprinkles all over it. I used the Gingerbread Man dies to create a pink candy cane to add to the tag and then once again stamped little gingerbread men in Pecan Pie and a piping bag in Garden Green.

These tags were so fun to make and they dress this little hot chocolate treat up so well.

Make sure to check in with Melanie to see what she has to post tomorrow and then come back here to see what I am sharing for our final project!

If my projects have inspired you, please consider shopping my online store so I can continue to love what I do!

Fancy a cruise and some crafting? Ask to join our Fun in the Sun Crafting Cruise Facebook group to get the details on setting sail with us in July/August 2026.


Handmade Happiness: A Birthday Card with Blooming Style

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Hi friends, here we are finding ourselves at the end of summer. And another time to reflect on what I did not get done over the summer, hahaha. I think this is a trap that many of us moms fall into. However, one thing I did DO this summer was participate in a few card swaps. This brought me alot of joy as during the school year I do not have time for these extra activities. This was one of the cards that I created to share in creativity with others.

I love the Floral Charm suite and new that I wanted to use it to create my swaps and tie in the new Party Banner Dies. I know we can easily use the Party Banner Dies for banners for home/party decor, to add onto scrapbook pages, but I wanted to use them in a fun way as a layer on my card project.

I started with a standard tent fold card ( 4 1/4 x 11, score at 5 1/2) and added a 1 3/4 inch strip of the Floral Charm DSP to the bottom of the card front. This is my favorite pattern from the collection.

I die cut one of the banner dies in Basic Beige that was closest to this standard card size. Please note, you will have to slightly trim your card to be more narrow to accommodate the die as it is not quite as wide as the card base.

I ran the Basic Beige card stock through the Birch Wood Embossing Folder to add to the rustic look.

I stamped the sentiment in Mossy Meadow ink so that it was kissing the right edge of the Basic White card stock. This was to allow the large floral image from Charming Day stamp set to fit on the left. I stamped the image in Memento Ink and then used my favorite coloring technique—Lazy Watercoloring—to color the floral. This technique also has the same feel as the DSP for me. The flower is colored using Petal Pink, Calypso Coral and Old Olive. I added a bit of Wink of Stella over top of the flower as well.

I added two thin strips of the DSP from the same collection to help the sentiment pop. This is also a great way to use up those paper strips we always have!

And no card is complete without an embellishment. I added some of the Basic Beige dots from the Neutral Matte Dots collection above and below the flower.

If you love to craft-I would love to see you on the Crafting Cruise that my friend Melanie from Mels Inky Fingers and I are co-hosting in July 2026. Please join our official Facebook Group ‘Crafting Fun in the Sun’ for details and tell your friends~

Click to join

Thanks for stopping by and if you are inspired please consider shopping with me so I can continue to Love What I Do :)

Memories in Bloom!

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Hey friends—its been a while. Its been the worst two years of my life. I was not really prepared for the direction my life was taking but now that I am here I am grateful for the things that God was lining up for me before I knew what was happening. It was not an accident, it was a plan designed to save me.

I am thankful for my crafting community, especially those who were in the nitty gritty with me as I cried through teaching classes or needed to vent, who kindly offered me reassurance that I would not be stuck in that space for long. Because that is the thing right—we are never actually in that space for long. No matter what we are always moving forward. For a long time I was coasting along on the tide of life into an ocean where I did not want to be. But now I have the chance to bring myself and my kids into a space where we are meant to be.

I want to get back to share my creativity with others and focusing on creating life long memories with my kids and friends, and capturing these in a paper legacy! I look foward to sharing with you in this space. Including recipes and just general life stuff. One day my kids can look back on this too :)

I hadn’t been to disney since before Covid…its the same nostalgic feeling!

In May I spent a week in Disney with Reese. It was a amazing. Every mom should be so lucky to spend time on a vacation with their son, and in a place as fun as Disneyworld. I could not have asked for a better travel companion! Our first stop in the Magic Kingdom was for a Starbucks and a picture in front of the castle.

I created this page as part of a series for my Scrapbook the Day event that I have been hosting every few months in my Home Studio. Its been fun to take our kits and turn them into other designs, treat people to a homemade lunch and dessert and have happy energy in my crafting studio.

I used the Memories in Bloom kit as the backdrop for this page. Personally I feel like you can use flowers for almost anything. I really loved the colors of the kit and the fact that there was a matching bundle to incorporate. The Pretty Florals bundle was a great add on to bring dimension into my design as I am not prone to just using the pop out images from our kits. My personal style is for things to be more dynamic.

However, I did pull in a lot of other supplies as well to complete my page. I am loving the new Party Banners Dies and the Celebrate Together stamp set is an #addtocart moment if you have not already. I have used the ‘A Day to Remember’ so many times already! It’s a perfect scrapbooking or memory keeping stamp set. Storybook Life is another fantastic memory keeping stamp set and that is where ‘Big Smiles’ is found.

My sentiments are stamped in Secret Sea ink which is such a great alternative to Memento ink.

TOP TIPS:

Combining pop out pieces with stamping and die cuts is a great way to use a kit and bring a design to life. I like my pages to have texture and interest.

Balancing out a busy pattern by layering a solid card stock over top is a great tip when you do not know how to use those busy pattern.

I used one of the large flowers from the Thankful Garden stamp set to fill in some space on the Petunia Paper base (stamping tone on tone). A combination of different embellishments is also fun (use up those random sequins or gems that you have left, it’s a crime they get abandoned!)

I hope this page sparks some new ideas in your own memory keeping!

If you are just starting your memory keeping journey—check out my gallery for a bunch of inspiration and follow me on instagram @stampwithbrenda if you are not already!

And wish me luck on my new journey—as I have been saying Brenda2.0 has just launched! If you are inspired to create this page please consider shopping with me in Canada—this helps me to keep loving what I do!

Happy Spring!

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Happy Spring everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying family or friendship time together. The sun is shining here and its a beautiful day.

I wanted to share a scrapbook page that I made with some pictures I took with my kids last spring. We went to Banff National Park and even though there is still snow, it was spring and a fun way to spend Mother’s Day weekend.

This picture is actually in Lake Louise and minutes after we took it, an avalanche happened across the Lake. It was amazing to witness.

I started with a White Willow 12 x 12 base and used the color palette of Fresh Freesia, Petunia Pop, Soft Seafoam and Lost Lagoon for my hexagons and flowers.

I used some current, soon to be retiring and retired DSP for the hexagons, which are cut with the Meant to Be Dies. They are the only dies I have used from this set if I am being honest. And I love them. They are an #addtocart moment, trust me!

My current obsession has been the Thankful Garden stamp set. I just cannot stop using it (take a peek at my Instagram @stampwithbrenda) and you will see what I mean!

I love that the concept artist designed this bloom so that it can be cut apart and you can use just the blooms without the stem if you desire.

I colored the main full bloom in Fresh Freesia with a Soft Seafoam stem and then the individual blooms are colored in Fresh Freesia and Petunia Pop. If you creatively arrange them, you can’t tell they were not individually stamped flowers.

The butterfly is from the Beautiful Butterflies stamp set and I colored one in green and one in purples to maintain the color scheme.

I hope this page inspires you to scrapbook with our many amazing products or use the idea to create a fun card!