Monthly Archives: March 2021

Hydrangea Hill Happy Easter Card

Easter is coming in just a few days, so if you wanted to have a few Easter cards to mail or hand out, this Hydrangea Hill Happy Easter Card is a super simple one to make! You can see it is just a basic, easy card design and one you can change up with different paper and greeting.

The Hydrangea Hill Designer Series Paper is a beautiful paper on it’s own so it works well with a simple card like this one. You wouldn’t want a lot of other embellishments or fancy greetings and die cuts that would take away from the beauty of the paper as it is.

The card base of Gorgeous Grape Cardstock is one of the coordinating colors with the Hydrangea Hill Paper. A lighter shade of purple would be Highland Heather. I just cut a piece of the designer paper to the usual layer size of 4″ x 5 1/4″. When you have a design like this, with the larger hydrangea flowers, you might want to try to strategically cut the paper to get the best view of the flowers. On this particular paper, you can see how there is one hydrangea that is kind of the focal point because all of it is on the card. You might not have a choice depending on if you have already cut up your paper for other projects, but I still had enough of this paper to cut a 4″ wide strip the length of the paper. Then I could go back in and cut out just the portion that showed off the flower well. You might end up with not one full flower on your card front but it would likely still be pretty because that would just be a different look of all the colors of the various flowers.

Before adhering the designer paper to the card front, I added some Blackberry Bliss 3/8″ Striped Ribbon. Actually, I originally thought it was Gorgeous Grape but it still matches just fine! The sheerness and the pretty stripes of this ribbon are beautiful on this card. I tied the bow on separately.

The greeting is from the Arrange A Wreath Stamp Set and is stamped in Gorgeous Grape. I cut it out with one of the Layering Circles Dies and layered it on a pretty decorative circle in the Painted Labels Dies. You can see that you could put a birthday greeting, anniversary, thinking of you, sympathy, even a wedding sentiment on this same card and it would be perfect. I could have added some pretty sequins or rhinestones around on the card as well. But as I said, the paper is so pretty, you almost don’t want to add much because you want the recipient to focus on the beautiful paper design.

This Hydrangea Hill Designer Series Paper is in the January-June 2021 Mini Catalog so is not in danger of retiring right away as the Annual Catalog products are. However, usually all designer paper retires eventually to bring in new, so enjoy your hydrangea paper while we have it! The Arrange a Wreath Stamp Set is retiring from the Annual Catalog along with the Wreath Dies by May 3.

Here is another basic card design using the Hydrangea Hill Designer Paper, with a less busy design, but you could change it out using this floral pattern.

Finish up your Easter cards and projects, but you can also make this Hydrangea Hill Happy Easter Card card for any other occasion.

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Love You Always Happy Easter Card

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Can you use Valentine paper to make an Easter card? Sure, with the Love You Always Specialty Designer Series Paper with its beautiful foil floral design on three different colors of papers. Of course, it is not officially Valentine paper. It is just presented in the January – June 2021 Mini Catalog in “sort of” the Valentine section of the catalog, in the Love You Always Suite. It is actually beautiful paper that you can use for many occasions. Since two of the three sheets of paper are pink (Blushing Bride and Rococo Rose) and since the suite contains hearts, we perceive it as Valentine’s Day paper. But if it would have been added to a floral suite, we wouldn’t consider it Valentine paper! All this to say, you can use this Love You Always Paper to make almost any pretty cards that you want!

This easy Easter card starts with a Blushing Bride Cardstock card base. The layer is the Love You Always Paper in Blushing Bride. I wanted to keep the card simple so I didn’t try for anything fancy. I stamped the greeting with stamps from two different stamp sets. First, stamped the Easter greeting from the Arrange a Wreath Stamp Set (retiring from the Annual Catalog!) and then for a little extra, I remembered the tulip in the Springtime Joy Stamp Set which I thought would sort of match the designer paper. I stamped just one tulip but decided on one on each side of the greeting.

Next, to cut out the greeting, I looked through my dies and finally decided on a large one in the Tasteful Labels Dies. Then I tried various things to make a layer of Blushing Bride Cardstock under the greeting, usually by cutting another die in half so it would just show out to the sides of the greeting. Nothing seemed to add anything to the card.

I thought I would try ribbon, so I used the Blushing Bride 3/8″ Metallic Ribbon. I’ve been using this ribbon pretty often. It’s very pretty with its one satin side and one metallic side. I wrapped this ribbon horizontally around the designer paper and added a bow separately. This seemed to enhance the card without interfering with the large die-cut greeting.

The greeting is popped up with Stampin’ Dimensionals®. For a little bling, I added a few of the smallest Champagne Rhinestone Basic Jewels, which I really liked on this card!

If you were to copy this card, you would find it very quick and easy to make because you wouldn’t have to figure out which elements to use! So if you need a quick and easy Easter card, try this card design! You can change it up however you like, but at least you will have a quick and easy idea to go by if you need to make some Easter cards and get them in the mail today! This Love You Always Happy Easter Card is really a basic card design so you can make a card like this for Easter.

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Check Out the Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog Last-Chance Products!

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It’s here! It’s the Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog Last-Chance Product Sale and list of retiring products. The new annual catalog is coming out a month earlier this year so it’s time to make room for all the new products in the new catalog coming out May 4th! Some products are as much as 75% off!

Remember, Bundles are all on the list because some products WILL retire, but others will just be separated into their separate products and carried over into the new catalog. And some will stay in their Bundles. There will be new Bundles in the next catalog.

The Tear & Tape Adhesive will be “reconfigured” but it is in the new catalog!

The Stamping Sponges are going away! They have been around since I’ve been a Demonstrator!

The Clear Tiny Treat Boxes, both the white and gold Mini Pizza Boxes, and the cute Stampin’ Up! Mini Shipping Boxes are all retiring. I have especially used those Clear Tiny Treat Boxes a LOT!

All three Itty Bitty Stamp Sets (Greetings, Christmas, and Birthdays, are all retiring (and are backordered right now). I have used these stamp sets a lot. The small greetings were perfect for lots of projects and you can find any greeting you need out of those sets!

The Embossing Powders are on the Last-Chance list but they are just going to be repackaged into three colors in one package – Basics and Metallics. So if you need to restock on just one color, you might want to get the single color now.

The Circle Punches we have left are retiring. We use dies a lot but sometimes punches are easier and handier so check those out. The Classic Label Punch, another very useful punch, is also retiring.

The Craft & Carry Stamparatus Bag is retiring and is priced at only $11.60 (reg. price $29.00)! This bag is designed to carry your Stamparatus, to store it or to carry it to stamping events or take on vacation or stamp with a friend. BUT even if you don’t own a Stamparatus or don’t plan on taking your Stamparatus with you, this might be a great bag just to own! It has pockets inside for various things and is a nice, tailored looking medium size bag for daily use, for vacations, for anything! Look at it that way and see if it would be useful to you, especially for only $11!

The Stitched Shapes Dies are retiring!! I may be wrong, but I think these were some of the first or early dies we ever had. But they are so basic and useful, layer easily, and that stitched edge add a nice little bit of embellishment. If you don’t already own these, you really might like them if you do a lot of die-cutting. Also, the Layering Ovals Dies are going away.

If you need more Snow Globe Shaker Domes for your stamp set, get them now on sale before they are gone.

Some Stampin’ Blends colors are retiring, even a couple of current ones, plus the outgoing In Colors, so if you want those, grab them!

There is a lot more I could list about the Last-Chance List, but these are some of the things that jumped out at me and might be helpful for you to consider. Remember, it is all “while supplies last”!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! LAST CHANCE PRODUCTS!

This is the easiest and most reliable way to check what is still available. If you want to see a list of retiring products, here is the Stampin’ Up! list.

Arrange a Wreath Easter Card

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This Arrange A Wreath Easter Card uses several products, unfortunately, from the Stampin’ Up! Last-Chance List. Every year we go through this with a bit of excitement and a bit of nostalgia. We wonder what will be retiring and then we groan when our favorites are on the list! It’s really kind of funny after you have been through it many times! And then when the new Stampin’ Up! Catalog comes out we’re all excited about the new products and almost forget about what retired! Yet there are always those products that we each must have in our stash, whether they have been around for awhile or maybe only a year or two.

Easter is coming next weekend so be sure you are ready for the Easter Bunny! Make some Easter cards to send and get them in the mail! If you already have the Arrange a Wreath Bundle, you can make some very pretty cards for Spring and Easter. This Bundle is good for all seasons, actually. I really wish it was not retiring yet! However, on this card, I just used the Wreath Builder Dies. The stamp set, dies, and Bundle are all backordered as I write this. Hopefully, they will be back in stock soon!

Another product retiring, that I just purchased, is the Playing With Patterns Designer Series Paper. These are 6″ x 6″ papers with such colorful and happy colors and patterns! I can’t believe I didn’t have it before now. There were several papers that I could have used for a background for this Easter card, but I chose this Calypso Coral paper with white dots and layered it on top of Basic White cardstock to brighten it up. The card base is Calypso Coral.

The wreath is one of two choices in leafy wreaths in the die set. And then you get all kinds of dies to add elements to your wreath. I chose the wreath with the small sprigs of leaves and decorated it with colored die-cut eggs and flowers along with the die-cut bow in the Wreath Builder Dies. For flower centers, I used the Gold Glitter Enamel Dots. I have used these a lot because Gold Glitter goes with a lot of things especially since they come in different sizes of dots. These dots are also retiring soon so get them while you can!

I actually forgot about the matching Arrange a Wreath Stamp Set, so I used the Easter greeting in the Itty Bitty Greetings Stamp Set. ALL the Itty Bitty Stamp sets are retiring, which really upsets me because I used all the Itty Bitty stamp sets a lot. You can find just about any greeting you could need in one of these sets! If you don’t have them, be sure to check them out in case you “need” them! The greeting is stamped in Calypso Coral Ink and punched out with the Classic Label Punch. Can we really live without this basic punch??! It was just perfect with the Itty Bitty greetings and many others.

Check out the Last-Chance Products List and Sale. The Classic Label Punch is even on sale, but is backordered. All of these products are available while supplies last.

The easiest way to see what is still available is just to go to the Stampin’ Up! Online Store and shop there. If you already have the Arrange a Wreath Bundle or dies, make a card for a friend or neighbor for Easter like this Arrange A Wreath Easter Card. You can even add a bunny if you want!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE HERE!

Springtime Joy Bunny and Easter Basket

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This Springtime Joy Bunny and Easter Basket Easter card came out of planning to make a monochromatic or almost monochromatic card like one I made a previous year that turned out cute! Only the background turned out to be monochromatic! But it is fun to make a stamped background! Just some good old stamping that feels good in your hand!

The card base is Crumb Cake Cardstock with a layer of Petal Pink. The top layer is Shimmery White Cardstock. I stamped the Easter basket in the Springtime Joy Stamp Set randomly on the piece of Shimmery White with Crumb Cake ink. The Shimmery White has just a very subtle shimmer to it which makes it so elegant and beautiful (but difficult to photograph!).

The bunny and the Easter basket in the Springtime Joy Stamp Set are both stamped on Shimmery White and then cut out with Paper Snips scissors by hand! Then they were adhered to a die-cut piece of Shimmery White, cut out with the Stitched Shapes Dies. These dies are on the Last-Chance List which makes me sad because they have been some of my favorite and most used dies. They are just basic shapes you can use over and over but the little stitching around the edge really adds a nice touch. Plus they can be layered on other die-cuts. In this case the Stitched Shapes circle is layered on a Layering Circles scalloped die-cut. (The Layering Ovals and Layering Squares Dies are both retiring!)

The bunny and basket are both popped up on Stampin’ Dimensionals®. They are colored in with Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers. Some Stampin’ Blends colors are retiring as well! Crazy! The bow is tied with the Blushing Bride 3/8″ Metallic Ribbon.

If you really wanted to make a monochromatic Easter card, here is one I made last year all in Highland Heather Ink.

On the inside of the card, I added a Shimmery White piece of cardstock with the Easter greeting stamped in Crumb Cake from the stamp set, plus the Easter basket in the bottom corner.

Be sure to check out the list of retiring Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog products. Some are discounted but not everything. Bundles are not carried over at the Bundle price with the 10% off price, but some Bundle items are carried over to the new catalog separately. There will be new Bundles in the new catalog! A few products are not really going away, such as the Tear & Tape Adhesive, but are being “reconfigured”. The embossing powders are not going away but will be packaged in sets of three colors.

It’s time to make Easter cards so I hope this Springtime Joy Bunny and Easter Basket card will give you some inspiration.

Last-Chance Products Sale HERE!

Last-Chance List PDF

Stampin’ Up! Catalog Retiring List Is HERE!

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The Stampin’ Up! Last-Chance Products are in the Stampin’ Up! Online Store now! Look carefully at the pink note below the products to see if it is on sale or retiring soon.

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! Last-Chance Sale ONLINE HERE!

Have fun!!

Keep Up With the Stampin’ Up! News!

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Join Our Stamping With Karen Mailing List

It’s time to be a part of the Stamping With Karen Mailing List since a lot of things will be coming up! Tomorrow, March 24 at 1 PM Mountain Time, the list from the current Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog of the retiring products will come out! Some select products will be on sale and usually, those go fast! Then in May this year, it will be the new Stampin’ Up! Catalog time, with new products, things to learn about! You’ll want to keep up with all the news surrounding these two big events!

Also, keep up with news about the new Paper Pumpkin Kit every month and what is new with Stampin’ Up! each week!

If you are on my blog, you will see a red sign-up box in the top right corner where you can simply put your name (or first name) and best email. If you are on your phone, you probably need to scroll way down to get to the sidebar things. OR you can go to my sign up page HERE.

You will receive an email with a link to your free gift from me, as a thank you for signing up with me!

I send out a weekly email every Tuesday afternoon with the latest Stampin’ Up! news and offers plus stamping ideas with a supply list and directions. Even if you never make the project, maybe just seeing ideas will do your crafty heart good! I know it does mine! I’m all about the ideas!!

In the fall, as a thank you to my mailing list subscribers, I always send out a special email called The 12 Weeks of Christmas with an exclusive holiday idea for each week leading up to Christmas. You can only get these ideas if you are on my mailing list. I value my subscribers and have fun sending out these holiday ideas.

Let’s stay connected and in touch with each other over our favorite thing to talk about…..stamping with Stampin’ Up!

You are also welcome to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.

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Easter Bunny Wreath Easter Card

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There are so many pretty cards you can make with this die-cut wreath including a card like this Easter Bunny Wreath Easter Card. You can use this wreath and the other design that comes in the set as well to make all kinds of cards for many occasions. I love adding the Easter bunny and his basket of eggs to the wreath!

The die-cut wreath is made with the Wreath Builder Dies. I die cut two wreaths, one out of Pear Pizzazz and one out of Soft Sea Foam for a lighter color. You can use just one wreath but I think two look more interesting. Just glue one on top of the other, however you would like to place it, and then adhere to the card front.

The card base is Pear Pizzazz with a layer of Shimmery White Cardstock. I thought the background needed a little something, so I embossed it with the Ornate 3D Floral Embossing Folder. I think it adds a nice background without being too much.

The Easter bunny and basket, from the Springtime Joy Stamp Set, are stamped on Shimmery White with Memento Ink and colored in with Stampin’ Blends. I then cut out each by hand. To get your scissors inside the handle of the basket, you can punch a hole or maybe a couple of holes carefully which might work better than trying to stab the point of your scissors into the cardstock! I just used Multipurpose Liquid Glue for everything, although you could pop some things up with Stampin’ Dimensionals if you wanted to.

I also added a bow with the Daffodil Delight 1/4″ Ruched Ribbon and adhered it with Mini Glue Dots. There is also a die for a bow to hang on the wreath, but I preferred a real bow. For the greeting, I stamped one in the Itty Bitty Greetings Stamp Set and made a tiny tag out of it to tie on behind the bow. You can even cheat and add Glue Dots behind a little tag like this to hold it in exactly the position you want it or even behind ribbon tails or bow loops to keep them where you want them!

Here is another card I made for fall die-cutting one each of both the wreath designs on one card!

Easter is in two weeks from yesterday so it’s time to make Easter and Spring cards if you want to send them.

Shop the Last-Chance Products Sale March 24 – May 3 on select, retiring Annual Catalog products! Be ready!

(Sale probably begins at 1:00 PM Mountain Time, 2:00 PM Central Time when the Retiring List is released. Stay tuned!)

Art Gallery Floral Card For Spring

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I may have missed the first day of Spring, but this Art Gallery Floral Card For Spring is for the second day of Spring! I was pleased with how this card turned out with “just stamping”. The large flower stamps in the Art Gallery Stamp Set can be used with two-step stamping which adds extra interest, texture, and dimension with the possibility of different colors on the same flower.

For this card, I used pretty bright colors, like Melon Mambo for the card base and for the first top flower. I think with the holidays and winter, I hadn’t used Melon Mambo for a long time and it’s one of my favorites. For the other flowers, I used Daffodil Delight and Highland Heather, plus Mango Melody and Melon Mambo for the smaller flowers.

When you do two-step stamping, one way to do it is to ink up your stamp and then stamp lightly on scrap paper first, then stamp the image on your cardstock. This gives a light image, over which you can then stamp the second stamp, usually a little more detailed, which then shows up darker over the light image but doesn’t fully cover it at all. Or you can do it in reverse…..stamp the detailed image first and then the lighter image. Depending on the stamp, you might even be able to stamp full strength both times if the detail shows up well enough.

With two-step stamping, you can also use two different colors on the stamp. For example, you could stamp the lighter color in yellow and then use an orange shade for the second stamp. It might produce a colorful, shaded version of a flower like you might see in nature.

In order to stamp the large stem and leaf stamp in the set now on my card with not much space in between flowers, I stamped the large flower on scrap paper and then cut it out to use as a mask. After inking up the leaf stamp, I placed the cut out mask over the flower that would get the green ink on it if not covered. Then I stamped the stem and leaf. That way, the extension of the leaf and stem gets stamped over the mask instead of ruining your stamped flower. Then remove the mask and place it on another flower. Maybe don’t ink you the whole leaf image if that works so you don’t get ink where you don’t want it.

For the greeting, I simply stamped it right on the card. I could have made it a layer, but I ended up with that small empty space at the top of the card and it seemed perfect to just put the greeting there. This greeting is also in the Art Gallery Stamp Set as are many other choices in sentiments.

While you can use Basic White or Very Vanilla for the top card layer, for a change I used Shimmery White Cardstock. This is my favorite paper because it has a subtle shimmer. It’s just beautiful! It usually doesn’t photograph because it is so subtle, but in person, you can see it. You can stamp well on it and you can watercolor on it better than Basic White. Use Shimmery White when you just want something a little more special! It’s very nice paper!

Hopefully you are feeling spring where you live! We have certainly had some beautiful spring days to be outside in Houston lately, although it has been a little chilly in the mornings. In spite of our winter storm, our grass is turning green again (maybe a lot of weeds!) and the azaleas are blooming! The bugs are back out (yuck!), especially the mosquito hawks, that like to hang around doors and fly in the house. This is the perfect weather which we have to enjoy until the very hot, humid summer arrives.

Celebrate spring by making a few light, bright, and colorful cards after the doldrums of winter! It will lift your spirits and those to whom you send the cards!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE HERE!

Rainbow Glimmer Daisies Thinking of You Card

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The other day when I was playing with the beautiful, fun Rainbow Glimmer Paper to make my little leprechaun hat and shamrocks for St. Patrick’s Day, I couldn’t put it away! This Rainbow Glimmer Daisies Thinking of You Card is the result of playing some more with it!

The card base is Granny Apple Green Cardstock with a layer of Basic White. I thought I would try punching out some flowers in all the colors! I used the Medium Daisy Punch, punching out two daisies for each flower. I tried to cover all the color shades I could on the Rainbow Glimmer Paper. For the flower centers, I used my retired 1/2″ Circle Punch.

The flower stems I just cut by hand and purposely made them a little curvy so it didn’t matter if I got them straight or not! The leaves are all die-cut with various dies. I just looked through my dies for small leaf dies. Not sure it’s a good look to have all these different looking leaves on Rainbow Glimmer daisies, but it’s a fun card so it’s okay!

On this busy card, I didn’t have much room for a greeting and probably could have left it off. I used one from the Art Gallery Stamp Set. I wanted something that wasn’t too big but big enough to show up on the busy card. I experimented with layering it on another color or even leaving the greeting un-layered, but I settled on just adding a slim piece of Mango Melody on the top and bottom of the greeting but not going all the way across. I like it. Just a little pop of color but doesn’t interfere with all the flowers.

I don’t think I have the Rainbow Glimmer Paper out of my system yet so a little more playing might be in order. Here is a card I made a while back using the Banner Blooms Die. I tried to get as many shades of the glimmer paper into the bouquet as I could. You just don’t know exactly what look you will get when you use this paper! That’s the fun of the rainbow glimmer bands on the paper!

Remember, the Stampin’ Up! retirement list will be coming out very soon, so if there is anything you think “might” be retiring from the Annual Catalog, you might want to grab it early so you don’t miss out when the list actually hits. No one but Stampin’ Up! know what is on it yet!

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Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day With Free Shipping At Stampin’ Up!

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Save some “green” on St. Patrick’s Day! Get FREE SHIPPING at Stampin’ Up! with a $50 minimum order (before tax) TODAY ONLY!!

Look through the catalogs and find some things you wanted but passed up before. Or stock up on basic supplies like the new Basic White cardstock and envelopes, adhesives, colored cardstock, retiring In Colors. You can even get free shipping on Prepaid Paper Pumpkin Kits!

If you happen to be using a coupon code, your final merchandise total still has to reach $50 before tax to be eligible for FREE SHIPPING.

Don’t delay because some products are on “Low Inventory” so they could sell out and be unorderable or backordered.

My little leprechaun hat is made from half a toilet paper roll and covered with the amazing Rainbow Glimmer Paper! And then I had to keep using this paper, so I die cut three hearts from the greenish/bluish part of the paper with the Stitched Be Mine Dies to make a shamrock and put it on a tag. You can see the rainbow effect of Granny Apple Green and Bermuda Bay on the hearts.

Have Fun Shopping!!

March 17: FREE SHIPPING!

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Surprise! Tomorrow, Wednesday March 17 will be FREE SHIPPING at Stampin’ Up! with a $50 order!

This is ONE DAY ONLY! If you use a coupon code, which reduces your order total, the order must still meet the qualifying threshold ($50 before tax) to be eligible for free shipping.

Prepaid Paper Pumpkin subscriptions are eligible for FREE shipping under the same rules as all other Stampin’ Up! items during the promotion. Month-to-month subscriptions are not eligible.

This is a good time to stock up on basic supplies or get some stamps or Bundles you always wanted but didn’t buy yet! You save AT LEAST $6.95 on your order with FREE SHIPPING.

TOMORROW! MARCH 17! FREE SHIPPING!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE HERE!

TOMORROW!

A Shamrock Card For St. Patrick’s Day

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St. Patrick’s Day is coming up this week so if you want to make a card for someone, you might want to try something like this Shamrock Card For St. Patrick’s Day!

It’s fun and easy to make shamrocks with hearts! You can stamp hearts together, punch hearts, die cut hearts, cut out hearts – whatever you like! Then just put three of them together and add a stem and you have a shamrock!

Shamrocks are a symbol of Ireland and was used by St. Patrick, Ireland’s patron saint, to represent the Holy Trinity in the Christian religion. Shamrocks are clover, but they must have three leaves to be a shamrock. If there are more or less leaves, the it is a clover and not a shamrock. See, you learn something new everyday!

To make this shamrock on this card, I started with dies, but I wasn’t happy with the sizes. Then I remembered we had two heart punches in a Heart Punch Pack! One is a little larger and has a scalloped edge and the other is plain and is a bit smaller so you can layer it on the scalloped heart.

After looking over the greens, I chose Just Jade Cardstock for the green color of the card. The card base is Just Jade with a layer of Basic White. I punched three scalloped hearts from Just Jade. Just Jade is one of the current In Colors and I like it but haven’t used it much.

For the heart layer, I decided to choose the polka dot pattern paper in the True Love Designer Series Paper. After punching out with the plain heart punch, I colored the heart with both the Light and Dark Just Jade Stampin’ Blend markers. This provides a little interest against the solid heart layer underneath. You could even use the floral pattern on the reverse side for something really different! I almost did that! The shamrock stem is just cut by hand from a scrap.

Before gluing down the shamrock, I stamped a few confetti images with Just Jade Ink around on the Basic White layer. In adhering the shamrock, I glued down the two side petals with Stampin’ Seal and then popped up the top one just for fun with Stampin’ Dimensionals®. The greeting is in the Itty Bitty Greetings Stamp Set and is punched out with the retired 1″ Circle Punch that I have. I put a Dimensional under the bottom portion of the circle so that it would be even with that popped up heart shamrock petal. And for a little gold for St. Patrick’s Day, I added a few Gilded Gems.

You can use this card for inspiration or maybe this card from last year using stamped hearts. Wednesday, March 17 this week is St. Patrick’s Day if you plan to do a little celebrating!

Altered Spring Lamb Gift Bag

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Something I think is fun to do is to take a shopping bag you got at a store and turn it into a gift bag, like this Altered Spring Lamb Gift Bag. The other day when I was cleaning out my “bag of bags”, I came across this small kraft shopping bag I got at one of my favorite gift shops. This bag is about 6″ x 7″ which was perfect for adding this stamped panel to the front of the bag! Even if the bag has printing, such as the name of the store or company, just cover it up with your stamping elements.

This bag already had the white border line around the bag with the store name printed in the middle. This was the perfect size to add my stamped decoration for the front of the bag and turn it into a spring gift bag, maybe for Easter

It was really like making a card, I just made the piece to fit the front area of the bag. The lamb is from the Springtime Joy Stamp Set, very popular right now with Easter coming up soon! The lamb is stamped in Memento Black Ink so I could color him with Stampin’ Blends Markers.

When I looked at the greetings in the stamp set, it seemed I should place the lamb off to the side and put the greeting, layered, right there on the other side. I wanted the lamb to be white, but I used the Light Smoky Slate Stampin’ Blend to just add a bit of color by the fluffs of wool and here and there. Then I also colored the flowers and leaves.

The greeting is stamped and then die-cut with a die in the Stitched So Sweetly Dies. For the layers underneath I just cut out rectangles with my Paper Trimmer.

For embellishments, I stamped a butterfly off to the side of the lamb and colored it with Stampin’ Blends. I also stamped the basket of eggs, colored it, and then cut out with Paper Snips. I decided not to pop it up with Dimensionals and just glued it down flat next to the lamb. Also, that little chick is so cute, I stamped, colored and cut him out and glued him down at the corner of the greeting. Now after all this, if you get a smudge of ink on your work, just add another butterfly to cover it up!

The whole decorative piece is layered on Blushing Bride and then Pear Pizzazz Cardstock. It is centered inside that white border line and looks perfect on this shopping bag turned into a gift bag! You can do this for any occasion! If you don’t have a cute little shopping bag, you can purchase plain bags at the craft store and decorate those. This is especially fun (and useful!) to do before Christmas so you have plenty of gift bags ready for gift wrapping like this Christmas bag.

Look through your bags and see if you have some shopping bags you can alter for whatever occasion you need like this Altered Spring Lamb Gift Bag I did using the Springtime Joy Stamp Set, perfect for a small Easter treat or gift!

So Cool Paper Pumpkin For April!

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Paper Pumpkin is the papercrafting kit that comes to you in the mail once a month! I like to say it’s a present you give yourself! Or you can give it as a gift!

This kit is a little extra-special! It was designed with children in mind! Something to spark their imagination and creativity and introduce them to our wonderful papercrafting hobby! But it doesn’t have to only be for kids! Once you get a glimpse of this kit, you will want it for yourself whether you have little ones around to share it with or not!

The So Cool Paper Pumpkin Kit is a little taste of summer fun, with enough supplies to make 12 colorful, shaped cards with coordinating envelopes. Six card bases are popsicle-shaped, the other six are semicircles: three watermelons and three rainbows. All of the cards are splashed with cheerful, vivid watercolor images. The kit also includes two full-size, matching sticker sheets, die-cut accents, fun embellishments, and more.

The kit’s exclusive So Cool Stamp Set is versatile, offering sentiments that can be used for multiple occasions such as birthdays, congrats, cheer, and more! It’s a great addition to any crafter’s collection.

Watch the video below to get a feel for the So Cool Paper Pumpkin Kit and then sign up to make sure you are on the list when April 10th rolls around so your kit will be shipped out to you!