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 :)

Twelve Days of Christmas--Project # 5

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HI friends! Are you enjoying all of our projects so far? I hope so! It is definitely starting to feeling like holiday season! Today I am sharing a card and a coordinating ornament or gift tag idea!

Lets start with one of my favorite card designs—I think it definitely falls into the ‘Good Card Design’ category as you can recreate this card with any dsp or die cut options!

The base is Real Red (its just screams classic Christmas) and in the top left and bottom right I stamped the little cluster of stars found in the Decorative Trees stamp set.

I created a first layer in Basic White where I die cut out a circle. Behind the circle I laid strips of DSP from the Take a Bow DSP in 1/2 and 3/4 wide strips. This is such a great way to use up DSP. I also ran this panel through the Snowfall Folder for a little extra touch.

I used the colors of the Take a Bow DSP to determine the colors of my two trees that I die cut with the Decorative Tree Dies. I just love these dies and have had so much fun creating with them this holiday season.

The dies have two sets of trees to choose from. The Garden Green treen in the front is one of the smaller tree options. The fancy layer that is on top of the tree is a separate die. You need to cut it and add it to the base tree, which is bigger. You then just use your snips to trim off the bottom section of the base tree! I was so happy to discover this as it made creating even more tree combinations a breeze!

Every year I make some sort of wood slice Christmas ornament or gift topper. I do hang these on my tree or tie them on a gift bag or use them on a gift. I love using a wood slice or tree cookie as my base. These are fun inexpensive gifts that you can use in a variety of ways. The coordinating card makes it a fun little gift!

To make this fun 3D tree for my ornament, I cut out 4 trees in Granny Apple Green. One is the base and three will be scored right down the middle of the tree. You could stamp on these 3 layers, like I did here, or even run them through an embossing folder for some texture.

I used the little star shapes from the Decorative Tree dies on these ones. Fold the 3 trees in half along the score line. Add some Tombow to the base tree and add one tree (one folded side) to the left half of your base tree, then add the next tree with Tombow to the back of the first tree and so forth, attaching the third tree to the base. I love when we can take a shape and make it 3D!

Because the Decorative Trees stamp set has the sentiment ‘Oh, Christmas Tree’ I knew that I had to use it on this project. It is stamped in Real Red ink with a spray of Granny Apple Green over top. I added a couple little banners from the Take a Bow DSP and a star from the die set.

I hope you are inspired to make a fun card and coordinating ornament yourself this holiday season!

Make sure you are checking Melanie’s blog on the days opposite of me so you don’t miss any of our awesome projects!
Thanks for joining in our 12 Days of Christmas Hop!

Color Fusers--September is Neutral!

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Hi friends—can you believe it is officially the start of ‘Sweater Weather’? I actually love this time of year, I can’t help but appreciate a good cardigan! And I love crafting with fall colors, especially the one we are featuring this month—Crushed Curry, Crumb Cake and Pecan Pie.

I am really excited to see what everyone designs this month and I actually decided to create a CARD versus a scrapbook page! Although I love this card so much that I will probably use it as inspiration for a future page.

I started with a base of Crumb Cake card stock and stamped some leaves from the Caring Leaves stamp set in the opposing corners in the same ink. Caring Leaves is a well priced autumn stamp set that is a great addition to some of the other fall products.

My second layer is Pecan Pie that I ran through the Changing Leaves Hybrid Embossing Folder. I love how you see just a few leaves poking through on the sides for some added texture.

I used an easy technique to stamp the leaves on the Basic White layer. I inked up my stamp in Crushed Curry and then used a Dauber in Pecan Pie to to add a bit of color variation in the leaf.

You can use two colors or more to create a fun unique leaf design for your projects.

I really love how fun and simple this technique is and how can it make your projects feel unique as each time you stamp it will be different.

I stamped the leaf 3 times on the Basic White layer of my project and added a little spray of Pecan Pie ink over top.

 

I die cut a stitched circle in Crushed Curry to layer behind my sentiment. ‘You’re Simply the Best’ is from the Caring Leaves stamp set—I used Pecan Pie ink with Clear Embossing Powder to make it pop a bit on the Crumb Cake. I used one of my favorite ribbons behind, the Natural Polka Dot ribbon. I snipped the word ‘Autumn’ from the Choose Happy stamp set.

The adorable die cut leaves are from the More than Autumn Dies and are cut in the 3 colors we are featuring this month. A few of our new Gold Textured Adhesive Backed Dots. I think they will become a staple in my holiday crafting!

I can’t wait to see what the rest of the team designs this month! I am always inspired by what they make so please make sure to ‘hop’ all along so you don’t miss anything. Next up we have Melissa Kerman!

You can always go in reverse to Bonnie O’Neill as well. Either way will bring you around to our Design Team.

Here are the supplies that I used to make this card that are current as of this post. The Caring Leaves stamp set, More Than Autumn Dies and Gold Textured Dots will all be available to order once our Holiday Catalogue goes live!

Father's Day Projects!

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Hi friends! I wanted to share a really adorable Father’s Day project that I designed for a recent kids class! We had so much fun putting everything together and I know the lucky dad’s will be truly touched by this gift!

Of course you need to make things a ‘gift set’ right? We have our fun project, a coordinating card and tag for our gift bag! I do love matchy matchy stuff and its always so easy with Stampin’ Up!

 

I started with an inexpensive canvas that I got at our local ‘dollar’ store.

I did a bit of ink blending with Boho Blue and a Blending Brush on the canvas around the top left and bottom right of where my photo was going to be placed.

I used a cute 4x6 picture of my youngest son and his dad on a Night of Navy base. I love the combination of Boho Blue, Misty Moonlight, Night of Navy and Pebbled Path! It worked so well on this project!

I added a little strip of Misty Moonlight DSP along the left side of the picture and used a Pebbled Path piece to create the rosette. I am loving the Round We Go bundle! The rosettes are pretty easy to assemble and make this project come to life!

The sentiment ‘So Glad You are My Dad’ is from the Gone Fishing stamp set and ‘You’re Awesome’ is from the retired Circle Saying Stamp set. I also used the Encircled in Nature Dies as well to layer ‘So Glad’ in Boho Blue.

I think this project turned out so adorable and you could modify it for any occasion like a birthday or celebration (think Grad or even a wedding shower!).

And of course we have a coordinating card and I used our new Brayer for the first time on the bottom section! I inked it up in Night of Navy and brushed it over Basic White card stock, leaving a section at the top to run through an embossing folder. I used a strip of Night of Navy card stock to hide where it was uneven and to create separation between the two section.

I used our Water Painter to flick water over the inked section so the water droplets would ‘remove’ some of the ink. It basically happens on contact and is pretty cool technique.

The Trusty Tools stamp set was perfect for the front and inside of the card. ‘Dad’ is stamped in Pebbled Path ink on another shape from the Encircled in Nature Dies and ‘Happy Father’s Day’ is on Boho Blue in Night of Navy ink.

 

I decorated the inside of the card as well with a little strip of DSP and ‘You’re the most Awesome’ from Trusty Tools. The frame around the sentiment is from the Labeled with Love Bundle.

I think this is such a fun gift to give Dad and I loved how all the kids had their own creative spin on how to assemble the project! As you can see from the smiles below I think they really did enjoy putting things together!

Please feel free to shop my store or DM to place an order if you are inspired by this project! All of your support allows me to continue to ‘love what I do’!

Be Inspired May--Monochromatic!

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Hi friends! Welcome to another Be Inspired Blog Hop! This month our theme is ‘monochromatic’ which I have decided to use the 5 NEW In Colors to create 5 monochromatic cards with! This is something that I do every new year when we get our new color options!

I just love when we have new colors to play with, which is why I could not wait to make a batch of cards using our 5 new colors:

—Peach Pie

—Shy Shamrock

—Summer Splash

—Petunia Pop

—Pretty in Pink (if you have been stamping a while you might have thought this color name sounded familiar and you would be right—it was a core color many years ago!)

This is my take on monochromatic! I created one card featuring each of our new colors—repeating the same design and only using Basic White as my neutral element.

I wanted these card to have a bit of a ‘technique’ to them so I used the ink pad swiping technique. You simply drag your ink pad from the top to the bottom of your card stock. Each attempt with look a bit unique as well as you can see in my 5 cards. Don’t apply too much pressure when you are dragging, you want it to look like a swipe! That is part of the charm!

Each ‘monochromatic’ card has the same base elements—card base matches the color of choice, a die cut from the Spotlight on Nature Dies, which are a definite #addtocart item!

A die cut using the new Flowers of Beauty Dies, a sentiment and stamped flowers from the Labeled with Love stamp set, white Bakers Twine and a little bit of the In Color Glimmer Paper and In Color Shimmer Gems!

Once you have your initial design done, its so easy to create a batch of these fun monochromatic cards!

I added a bit of background stamping on top of the ink pad swiping as well as you get that tone on tone look which is really fun.

If you look close at the die cut image you can see that each is cut from the new 6x6 In Color DSP stack—this year they also changed up the patterns on the paper as well. So each card has a bit of different look to the die cut depending on the pattern that was used.

I really enjoyed putting these 5 cards together—I think the little strip of Glimmer Paper underneath the sentiment helps it shine a bit too! And everything is better with glitter—right?

I can’t wait to see what the rest of the design team created and their unique interpretations of ‘monochromatic’! I can’t even pick a favorite version of the cards above because each of our new 5 In Colors are so amazing. They look fabulous together and work so well with our existing color line up!

You can click on the ‘NEXT’ button to see what the amazing Artisan Design Team member, Maheswari, has designed this month!

And if you are inspired, please consider shopping my online store so I can continue to LOVE WHAT I DO :)