Author Archives: Karen Fontinelle

Make Your Own Magnolia Designer Paper

When I was making a card with my Magnolia Lane Designer Series Paper and the Good Morning Magnolia Stamp Set, I decided it might be fun to just stamp a bunch of flowers on a card front. This is how I ended up making my own magnolia designer paper!

I’ve always found just doing random stamping all over a piece of paper to be a very relaxing and therapeutic experience! The block and stamp just feels good in my hand and doing the repetitive motion is calming. Then it is fun to go back over and color in the images unless you are doing just a colored outline and not coloring in.

This card wasn’t even planned! I just thought of it as I was making another card and had stamped some extra images on some scrap cardstock in case I wanted to use them somewhere somehow. I decided to stamp the flower images in Memento Ink randomly over a card front layer of Whisper White. Sometimes you have extra white space when you do random stamping as I did on this card. Since there was a single leaf in the stamp set, I just used the stamp to fill in some space in between the flowers.

To color in my card, I used my Stampin’ Blends, my favorite method of coloring right now! I used Light and Dark Petal Pink for the flower buds and Light and Dark Mossy Meadow for the leaves. The greeting is from the Good Morning Magnolia Stamp Set, stamped in Petal Pink, and then die-cut with the Stitched Nested Labels Dies. The ribbon I used across the front of the card is Old Olive and comes in the Ornate Garden Ribbon Combo Pack. It’s not a perfect match, of course, to the Mossy Meadow leaves, but I think it looks fine. It’s a pretty ribbon and makes the card look a little bit elegant.

This is basically an easy card but of course it does take time to color in the flowers. If you aren’t crazy about coloring, this might not be the card for you! But I enjoy it and love using my Stampin’ Blends.

You will see the Good Morning Magnolia Bundle on the Last-Chance retiring list but the stamp set and dies will be in the new catalog. If you want this Bundle and want to save 10%, order it now to save that 10%, otherwise in the new catalog you will purchase each for full price.

I love the Magnolia Lane Designer Series Paper and have made many cards with it. But if you want to do some random stamping and get the feel of that stamp in your hand and like the repetitiveness of stamping for a card front, try making your own “designer paper” with stamping!

Bird Ballad Bird Cage Paper Card

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As I was looking through all my designer paper to see which one spoke to me to make a card, perhaps with scraps, it was the Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper that won out, but as I looked through my scraps, what was not a scrap was the pattern with various bird cages printed on the Calypso Coral background. I had a full sheet of this particular paper and decided to use it some way to make a card! It wasn’t a favorite of mine!

Once I cut out a piece to be a layer on a Calypso Coral card base I started liking the design better, especially after I put a thin margin of Whisper White Cardstock underneath. I even used that piece of Whisper White to cut out the Whisper White oval I used on the front of the card. Just don’t tell anyone! I don’t often do it, but it is a little trick you can use if you really want to save paper and if you are positive it will not be apparent to the look of the card.

Because of the sizes of the ovals and needing a large oval on which to layer the bird, I chose a scalloped oval from the Layering Ovals Dies and die cut that out of Whisper White and die cut a plain oval out of Calypso Coral.

Next, I chose a bird that I liked on the scraps I had of the Bird Ballad Designer Paper. I simply cut out the bird, branch, and flowers myself with my Paper Snips while watching TV! You do not have to get into every nook and cranny when you cut something out yourself and I do not find it difficult at all. One tip Stampin’ Up! gave us years ago was to cut just a tiny bit off the actual image instead of on the actual line of the image because that is a little more forgiving in your cutting if it is not exactly perfect. Just do whatever is the easiest for you.

After I cut out the bird, I really like the way it layered on the ovals and how the colors all went together well with the background of the bird cage paper.

I decided to use the “Hello” greeting in the Free As a Bird Stamp Set that coordinates with the designer paper. I was afraid to just stamp it directly in the empty space on the Whisper White lest I make some kind of mess! Maybe if I had planned ahead because you should usually do your stamping first and then other steps. But I opted to stamp and die cut with the little wavy banner in the Ornate Frames Dies. I have loved these dies since they came out in the past Holiday Catalog with a Halloween stamp set, but they are great to use in lots of other ways!

Putting a little “Hello” on a card makes it perfect for almost any reason to send a card, especially just a note to catch up with a friend or family member. On the inside of the card, I adhered a Whisper White layer either with a couple flowers stamped with Calypso Coral Ink or a strip of matching designer paper along the bottom edge of that Whisper White layer.

Here’s another card I made with a different pattern of the Bird Ballad paper. I didn’t care for every sheet in this package of designer paper but several I thought were just beautiful. So if you like this paper, be sure to get some on the Last-Chance List before it is gone. The last date to order retiring products is June 2, 2020.

Remember to do some fussy cutting with good scissors for that like the Paper Snips if you don’t want to stamp or if you like an image on the designer paper. In some cases, you might be able to punch or die-cut a circle or oval from the paper, but I find fussy cutting is a good stress reliever! And remember that sometimes a piece of designer paper that you didn’t think you cared for can really turn into a pretty card like this Bird Ballad Bird Cage Paper Card.

Sympathy Card With Gold Foil Cross

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Three weeks ago today I had a need for a special sympathy card so I created this Sympathy Card With Gold Foil Cross. A dear friend with whom I’d grown up since 4th grade lost her husband to the coronavirus. While I saw lots of pretty ideas for sympathy cards online and almost chose one of those, I ended up somewhat copying a card I’d made myself several years ago.

Around Easter I had posted some past cards I had made and I noticed my friend commented on a card like this one. She’s also has a strong religious faith so I thought a card with a cross would be appropriate.

I first thought of making an all-white card but in the end, I used Gold Foil for the cross and the scalloped layer. The card base is Whisper White with a layer that is embossed with the Tin Tile 3D Embossing Folder.

The cross is made with two die-cut pieces from the Flourish Dies. It is the long piece that is not a leaf or flower! I cut two but then cut each down according to the size I wanted. Just use Paper Snips to cut carefully either with a straight line or perhaps following the curve, depending on where that end is going to end up.

I had to put a lot of thought into layering the cross, whether to emboss that background piece, what shape, what color, etc. Finally, I settled on using the Layering Ovals Dies because I needed something large. I chose to use one of the scalloped ovals for the gold foil layer under the white oval. To glue the cross together and to adhere it to the oval, I used the teeniest drops of Multipurpose Liquid Glue. It IS possible to get teeny drops out of the bottle but if that doesn’t work for you, put a small puddle of glue on some scrap paper or wax paper or your Silicone Craft Sheet and dip something like a toothpick or corner of a scrap of cardstock in it to pick up the glue.

Last, but not least, I had a difficult time deciding on a flower. Whether to stamp a flower and punch it out with either a current punch or retired punch and what flower stamp to use, etc. etc. Finally, I settled on this flower, stamped in Memento Ink and colored with Stampin’ Blends. The stamp is in the Ornate Style Stamp Set. I even added a little Rhinestone Jewel to the center of the flower.

This is the card I copied from. It doesn’t hurt to look back at your older creations and see if something in your own collection inspires you! I just changed up the colors to what feel I wanted this sympathy card to have and it was easy to duplicate. Of course the personal note inside a card like this is the most important part, but I know for us cardmakers, making a card for a situation like this takes some thought about the design, colors, greeting, etc. in hopes we will get the tone just right and bring comfort to the recipient. I’m afraid we could all need to have some sympathy cards on hand or ideas in our heads for one with the virus ravaging our country in this way.

Always look through your stash of cardmaking supplies, even older ones, and you will likely find something, even the perfect something, with which you can make a card like this sympathy card. It’s a shame we have to send them to people we know, but we do and we’ve been given a special opportunity with our supplies and our talent to hopefully ease someone’s sorrow with our cardmaking and papercrafting.

Poppy Moments Altered Birthday Gift Bag

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One of my favorite projects to make is to decorate a gift bag like this Poppy Moments Altered Birthday Gift Bag that I made for a friend’s birthday. Sometimes I use a bag I got out shopping and even if it has the store name on the side, I can cover the name with paper and decorate. It’s almost like making a card on the side of a bag! And if you don’t already have a cute shopping bag, you can buy a bunch at the craft store.

To decorate this shopping bag, I used the Poppy Moments Dies and just cut out a few flowers and leaves! I also used the Sprig Punch to punch a few leafy sprigs out of Vellum Cardstock. I made this bag pretty simple because there was no store printing that I had to cover up. After putting a gift inside the bag with tissue paper, you could also tie a ribbon around the bag handles. You could also attach a gift tag that you made. So many possibilities!

Here’s a birthday gift bag I decorated several years ago. The bag itself is pretty with a swirly leaf print on it, but I did need to cover the store name but that’s usually easy to do, sometimes on the front and back of the bag.

This gift bag turned out really pretty I think! I don’t remember if the bag was plain on the front or if it had printing on it, but it was easy to cover almost the whole front of the bag almost like if I had been making a card! You can see how you could make the same design for a card just by making it smaller!

If you are cleaning up closets and cabinets during the pandemic, save those small shopping bags and do something creative with them! Decorate for birthdays or Christmas or something generic and then you will have some personalized gift bags ready to go! Or maybe you can make a bag that matches your gift.

Altering or decorating bags you have around the house is something fun you can easily do and a great way to recycle! And it just might save you a trip to the store for a gift bag!

Don’t Miss the June Paper Pumpkin Box of Sunshine!

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Paper Pumpkin Sunshine Ad June 2020 Ad info

You may think it is early to subscribe or reactivate your account in order to receive the June 2020 Paper Pumpkin Kit, the Box of Sunshine, but be forewarned this kit is likely to be popular and could sell out! Get yourself signed up TODAY!

What is so special about this Paper Pumpkin Kit?

This exclusive Sara-inspired Paper Pumpkin kit is here to help you #sharesunshine. It includes supplies for eight handmade cards and is specially designed to help you create a box full of cheer. Once you’ve made all the cards, use any leftover pieces to decorate the box. Fill it with yellow goodies, add the included adhesive label, address it to someone special, and brighten their life with a little sunshine!

ABOUT THE JUNE KIT

The Box of Sunshine Kit contains supplies for 8 cards and envelopes (2 cards of 4 designs):
Card size: 4-1/4″ x 5-1/2″
Envelope size: 4-1/2″ x 5-3/4″
Coordinating Colors: Basic Black, Bumblebee, Crushed Curry, Poppy Parade, Shaded Spruce, White, and Gold

Box of Sunshine Information

This kit includes extra pieces and stickers (including a sticker label) to help you create cards AND a Box of Sunshine filled with treats and goodies to send to a friend. (Treats not included.)

The May 2020 Paper Pumpkin Kit with the new In Colors inside sold out in a flash, before May 1st! Don’t delay if you want this June Paper Pumpkin Kit because I think people will order multiple kits to give with treats inside and will be popular, especially because anything Sara Douglass helps design will be something special!

The deadline for signing up or reactivating your account is June 10 but I wouldn’t wait that long!

You can also add a Prepaid Subscription to your Stampin’ Up! order of one month or several months or even give this as a gift. If you want to do this, you can combine it with your order from the new Stampin’ Up! catalog and perhaps boost your Stampin’ Rewards if you have a large enough order! You will receive an email with directions for setting up your account and how to input the code showing you have a Prepaid Subscription.

SEND MY PAPER PUMPKIN KIT!

Garden Lane Paper Strips Thank You Card

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You don’t always have to know exactly what card you are going to make when you start as I didn’t know exactly when I started on this Garden Lane Paper Strips Thank You Card. I simply started looking at my designer paper choices. I had been seeing some cards made with strips of designer paper lately although they were cut on angles. I thought I would just try cutting some scrap strips and see how they would fit if I made a card.

Well, it turned out that cutting strips from the Garden Lane Designer Series Paper at 4″ x 3/4″ made a perfect fit for the top layer of the card. I chose Mint Macaron for the card base, one of the coordinating colors of the designer paper. Instead of gluing the strips right onto the Mint Macaron card base, I adhered them to a piece of Whisper White so I wouldn’t get them crooked or something! If you do this, then you can always do a little trimming if you need to before you adhere the strip piece to the card front.

Because I already had a stamped die-cut piece in my scraps I could see how it would look on the front of this card for the greeting. I played around with what to use for layers and what colors. Then I stamped “Thank You” from the Peaceful Moments Stamp Set in Mint Macaron Ink .and die-cut with a die from the Stitched Labels Dies. This greeting was then layered over Whisper White and Mint Macaron scalloped Layering Circles Dies. You could even add a bit of Whisper White ribbon or bows but I decided to stop. Sometimes you have to know when to stop when you are creating!

This was a fun Easter card I made wit the Garden Lane Paper in the background!

This Garden Lane Designer Series Paper is retiring on June 2 as are all the designer papers in the current catalogs. This one is discounted! Be sure to choose the ones you want to have before they sell out or are gone.

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP!

Ornate Garden Sponged Happy Card

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This Ornate Garden Sponged Happy Card came about it two ways today. First, I felt like I was either having an anxiety attack or coming down with “the virus” when one second before I was fine AND I saw a sample of a card online that was embossed but reminded me of this Ornate Garden Specialty Designer Series Paper with the gold foil accents on some sheets that made me think of sponging different colors of ink on the paper.

Here’s your anxiety tip of the day: Start looking online at cards and stamping videos and maybe better yet, force yourself to get up and start stamping! Get your mind off the news or whatever is going on in your mind that is not good for you!

Obviously I need a “Happy” card today so I chose three colors of ink from the Brights family (my favorite!)…..Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, and Granny Apple Green. I could have used Sponge Daubers, but I grabbed a small piece of sponge and just used a different side of it for each color of ink. Yes, you will get ink on your fingers but that’s okay. It will keep you happy all day! I just sponged around on the Ornate Garden Paper and then wiped off a bit with a tissue. Next, I just played around with those three colors of cardstock plus Whisper White to see what combination would look best, or at least that I liked, to actually assemble the card.

I finally decided on a Whisper White card base with a layer of Granny Apple Green. I found the Melon Mambo die cut from the Stitched Labels Dies in with my Melon Mambo paper but at first decided not to use it. I found the greeting I liked in the Modern Heart Stamp Set. I used a rectangular die in the Ornate Layers Dies but I used the technique of cutting it and then replacing the die over the same stitched lines to shorten the greeting piece.

I looked through my dies again to see what to layer the greeting on and found a die in the Stitched So Sweetly Dies that seemed to work. I cut that out of Granny Apple Green. As I thought about how that looked, I saw that Melon Mambo die-cut piece laying on the table and tried that behind it. I think it works! But I still felt like I wanted something else and finally adhered some Daffodil Delight 1/4″ Ruched Ribbon behind the Granny Apple Green and also popped that piece up on Stampin’ Dimensionals. I think the whole thing brings in all the colors of the ink and works out well with the sponged paper behind it and with the original intent of the card…. a Happy card!

Maybe today is the day for you to try some new technique or one like this. Remember to check the Last-Chance Products and the Clearance Rack in the Online Store! You will find some good bargains! Be sure to get what you need before it sells out!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE!

Happy Mother’s Day!

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Hope you have a wonderful Mother’s Day!

Ornate Garden Gold Sympathy Card

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We saw a story on the news the other night showing card racks at the store being sold out of sympathy cards which is so sad that people need those kind of cards, but the fact is, we all need to send them throughout the year, pandemic or not. It’s the most difficult card to make so it’s probably a good idea to make several at a time and hope that you don’t need them, but if you do, you will already have one ready to mail.

My original idea was not even to make a sympathy card but I planned to do something with the Ornate Garden Suite if only to use the dies. But when I looked through the Ornate Garden Specialty Designer Series Paper, I decided to use this floral sheet with foil accents and then use Gold Foil for the die-cut somehow. And even then, I wasn’t planning on a sympathy card. I was sort of thinking of a wedding card. When I looked through some stamp sets with sentiments, I settled on the Peaceful Moments Stamp Set. Somehow I couldn’t get past the sympathy sentiment so I went with that. Here’s another example of a sympathy card, simple but elegant with the designer paper and a nice ribbon.

To match the other gold, I felt like the greeting needed to be embossed with Gold Emboss Powder and the Heat Tool. The greeting is stamped in Versamark Ink, a clear ink that can be used for embossing or for the watermarked look in your stamping. Heat embossing is one of those things that is like magic when a new stamper sees it done for the first time. You stamp with Versamark Ink, sprinkle/dump on the embossing powder, shake off the excess, then heat with the Heat Tool and watch the magic happen! The powder melts and you watch it happen right in front of your eyes as the Heat Tool moves over it.

The very fancy die is one in the Ornate Layers Dies. Be sure to run it through your die-cutting machine three times to get the best cut. After cutting that, I measure the solid inside so I would know what size to cut my Whisper White Cardstock for the greeting.

If you would like to get your hands on brand-new product coming in the next Stampin’ Up! Catalog June 3, you can purchase any or all of the products in the Ornate Garden Suite. And if you want even more choices early, you can sign up to be a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator and choose some of the preorder products to be in your Starter Kit or order them separately after you sign up!

I certainly hope you do not need to send a sympathy card any time soon, but they are an important part of what we do. When you make a card for someone, especially a sympathy card, you are putting your heart and soul into it with your creativity and that will mean something to the recipient. You might even consider making some cards that could be for different occasions but don’t put greetings on them yet. Then if you need one to be for sympathy, you will have a nice card ready to go when you add a greeting.

How to Make a Magnolia Lane Gift Box

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With Mother’s Day coming up on Sunday, birthdays, and maybe graduations, even if virtual these days, you need to learn How to Make a Magnolia Lane Gift Box. It is so simple, as you will see and will make your gift extra-special, not to mention saving you a trip to the store to find a gift bag or box at the last minute!

This particular box is 7″ square and you do need two 12″ x 12″ pieces of paper. The bottom of the box is made with Petal Pink Cardstock and the top with a piece of Magnolia Lane Designer Series Paper.

To begin making the bottom of the box, you will cut the tiniest sliver off the side of two sides that share a common corner. To determine a “sliver” you can just slide your paper the teeny tiniest bit past the cutting track. It might not be even 1 1/16″ wide but you could use that measurement if you want. This makes the bottom just the tiniest bit smaller so that the box lid will fit easily over it.

Next, score at 2 1/2″ on all four sides of the box. Crease well with a Bone Folder to make the folds crisp, like a box should be. Then cut the flaps on opposite sides of the paper on the score lines. If you want, cut a small wedge off all four corners just to make the box bottom a little neater when the sides all come together. In the photo below, you can see the slivers I cut off from the two sides of the paper, so you can see how narrow they are.

After creasing all the folds really well, assemble the box and use a strong glue to assemble. You could use Tear & Tape but I like to use Multipurpose Liquid Glue to give me that extra few seconds to make sure everything is lined up perfectly.

For the top of the box, I used designer paper but you could use cardstock too. The top piece is 10 1/2″ square. Make the top in the same way (except don’t cut off a sliver!). Score 1 3/4″ all around and cut the flaps in the same way. Assemble with glue and put the lid on the box!

Tie a pretty ribbon around the gift box like this Petal Pink 5/8″ Organdy Ribbon. Add a nice card or pretty gift tag and you’ve got something special!

Here is another gift box I made a few years ago after following a video by Donna Griffith at the Stampin’ Up! Home Office. It’s what I followed to make this gift box and she also explains how to make different sizes.

Now might be a good time to use up some designer paper that will be retiring that you have left and turn it into something useful by making boxes so you will be ready for all the new products coming out in the next Stampin’ Up! Catalog on June 3rd! And your gift wrap stash will be ready for any gifts with a few boxes on hand!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE HERE!

Don’t Miss Out On My Weekly Emails!

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The new Stampin’ Up! Catalog is less than a month away from going live on June 3rd so there is no better time than NOW to stay in the loop and find out the latest from Stampin’ Up! To do that, sign up for my Stamping With Karen Mailing List and get an email every Tuesday with any Stampin’ Up! updates and also stamping ideas from me!

If you are on my blog, you will see a red sign-up box in the top left 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.

Be sure to check your email for your FREE GIFT from me for signing up!

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!!

See you on Tuesday!

Bird Ballad Laser-Cut Mother’s Day Card

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Mother’s Day is coming on Sunday so if you need to make a card, you might take some inspiration from this Bird Ballad Laser-Cut Mother’s Day Card. Part of the beauty of this card is the fancy laser-cut design but all you have to do is open the pretty tin that the cards and envelopes come in! Then decorate a little bit without taking away from the beauty of the laser-cut design.

The Bird Ballad Laser-Cut Cards and Tin are on the retiring list and you will find it in the Last-Chance category of the Stampin’ Up! Online Store. It is even discounted so a great deal! Not only will you have the pretty cards ready to use plus the envelopes with a fancy flap, but you will have the tin to save for yourself or give as a gift, maybe with some laser-cut cards inside!

If you want to add color to the laser design, you can do it one of two ways. On this card, I adhered the Petal Pink cardstock to the inside of the card front. This piece is cut just a bit smaller than the card front so that I could use the Multipurpose Liquid Glue to adhere inside the narrow outer frame of the laser-cut front and a few tiny dots in the center of the card. The other easier way is to adhere the Petal Pink cardstock to the inside of the card and let the laser-cut front be completely open.

To decorate the card, I wanted to use the pretty Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper before it retires. I think this paper is so pretty, sometimes both sides of it! I used the 2 1/4″ Circle Punch to punch the little bird and branch. Then I went to my Big Shot and used the Stitched Shapes Dies to die-cut a Petal Pink layer. I think I should have just used a regular circle die-cut because the punched image didn’t fit perfectly in between the stitching, as it turned out. But that’s okay! No one will notice except you and me! For the Mint Macaron layer, I used a scalloped Layering Circles Die. I think it is just enough without covering too much of the laser-cut design.

Then choose a greeting. If you are making a Mother’s Day card, you will find this greeting in the Dressed To Impress Stamp Set. You can make this same card for a birthday, congratulations, sympathy, or thinking of you. Just change the greeting or even leave off a greeting if you just want to write a personal note inside. Not every single card has to have a greeting or sentiment on the front!

Here is an example of another card I made last summer using the laser-cut cards.

The Bird Ballad Designer Paper is on the Last-Chance List and is discounted, so get some while you can or restock your stash! While supplies last, of course! I used to hear of people who would keep three packages of the same favorite designer paper on hand…..one package to use now, one to use later, and one to hang on to so they would always have some! The more supplies I accumulate, the more I think it is better to use up what you have because there will always be MORE new things! And we always want the new things! However, I do really think this Bird Ballad Paper is very pretty, one of my favorites!

A bonus is that not only do you get the tin to save and use, but you get pretty envelopes for your laser-cut cards. One thing you can do to make an envelope even prettier is to cover the flap with designer paper! I just took a scrap that would cover the whole flap, spread the Multipurpose Liquid Glue on the outside of the flap and placed the paper on the flap, lined up with the top edge. Then I just cut off the excess from the underside of the flap.

SHOP THE LAST-CHANCE PRODUCTS BEFORE JUNE 2ND!

Dinoroar Dinosaur Birthday Card

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It certainly is fun to make cards with this designer paper as you can see on this Dinoroar Dinosaur Birthday Card! Perhaps you already ordered this paper from the catalog or maybe you choose it during the last part of Sale-A-Bration. If you don’t own it yet, you can purchase it as a Last-Chance product even at a discount!

The Dinoroar Designer Series Paper is a fun paper to have in your stash for children’s and baby cards…..or even for anyone else! Why not?! Some adults might enjoy getting a dinosaur card for their birthday!

This card has a card base of Pool Party and then a layer of Mango Melody underneath the designer paper. I wanted to use a pattern that had leaves and foliage to look like the dinosaur was roaming the forest! The dinosaur is even cut out from one of the patterns of designer paper!

The greeting is stamped from the Peaceful Moments Stamp Set. The greeting and the layer are cut with the Stitched Nested Label Dies. I wanted to just keep the front of the card simple since the background paper is pretty busy with rather large images and I wanted the dinosaur to stand out.

Here is another dinosaur card I made recently. Now that card you could send to almost anybody just to say “Hello” or put a smile on their face when they open the envelope!

You can still purchase the Dino Days Bundle, consisting of the Dino Days Stamp Set and the Dino Dies for 10% off. The stamp set and dies will be in the new catalog but not bundled for the 10% off price. So if you like it and want to save 10%, get it now. The little Dinoroar Enamel Shapes are on sale also right now in the Last-Chance Products at more than 50% off!

These Last-Chance retiring products are available through June 2, while supplies last, until the new Stampin’ Up! catalog comes out June 3rd! Get some bargains while you can and don’t forget to check the Clearance Rack, too!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE HERE!

Happy Mother’s Day Bird Ballad Floral Card

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Mother’s Day is coming up in just a week, on Sunday, May 10th, so it’s time to make any Mother’s Day cards that you need, like this Happy Mother’s Day Bird Ballad Floral Card. Whether you are still lucky enough to have your mother to send a card or a mother-in-law, grandmother, daughter, aunt, whomever, it’s time to make some cards!

This is a pretty simple card design so you won’t have any trouble making a card like this one. I already decided I wanted to use the Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper, which is retiring and is discounted as I write this! It’s beautiful paper, I hate to see it go, so get yours (or get more!) while you can! It will only be available until June 2, while supplies last.

The card base is Calypso Coral Cardstock and there is a layer of Old Olive underneath the Bird Ballad DSP. I thought the Old Olive helped set off the designer paper. I chose the lovely floral pattern of paper. I have always really liked this pattern! There just are lots of good papers in the Bird Ballad DSP!

The Old Olive ribbon is from the Ornate Garden Suite. It comes in a combo pack with a Terracotta Tile color. I tied the bow separately and adhered it with Mini Glue Dots.

The greeting is from the Dressed To Impress Stamp Set. This same card, colors, and paper could be used for lots of other occasions, you can just change the greeting.

I used the Stitched So Sweetly Dies to die cut the greeting and also the layer underneath the greeting. The Calypso Coral layer actually has most of it hidden, with only the top and bottom curved parts showing!

With Mother’s Day next Sunday, it’s time to make a card or more than one card, especially if you need to mail them. If the card gets there early, the recipient will just have more time to enjoy it!

Shop the Last-Chance List of Stampin’ Up! Retiring Products!

Peaceful Poppies Gift Bag With Poppies

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As I was looking through what is left of my Peaceful Poppies Designer Series Paper, I had a full sheet of this poppy floral pattern and thought it looked so pretty and that it would make a lovely Peaceful Poppies Gift Bag With Poppies. You could use this gift bag for a small gift for Mother’s Day or a birthday or any special occasion. There will be graduations coming up even, perhaps, without graduation ceremonies this year. Making your own gift bag out of pretty Stampin’ Up! designer paper would make a very special gift presentation!

You can make this gift bag with just half a sheet of designer paper, whichever one you choose to use. I used the Peaceful Poppies Designer Series Paper to make the bag. Start with the paper cut to 6″ x 11 3/4″. Using the Paper Trimmer or the Simply Scored scoring tool, score along the long side at 1 1/4″, 5 1/4″ 6 1/2″ and 10 1/2″. Turn the paper so the short end is at the top of the board and score at 1/4″ on one side, then at 1 1/4″ on the other side. Pay attention to the pattern on the designer paper so the bag will have the design going the correct way. The narrow 1/4″ scored area will be the part you will fold over to make a smooth top edge. The other long scored 1 1/4″ area will be the flaps at the bottom of the bag.

Crease all the score lines and fold over the narrow 1/4″ piece at the top of the bag. If you prefer you could fold it to the outside if you’d like that side to show as a contrast. OR don’t score that 1/4″ line and have your bag be 1/4″ taller. Use some adhesive of choice to adhere that to the inside of the bag.

Use the Classic Label Punch to punch a handle at the top of the bag. You can squish the front and back sides together and try to center the punch to make the handle opening or you can do one side at a time.

Assemble the bag folding on all the scored lines and flaps. Then decorate for the occasion.

To decorate my gift bag, I die cut two large poppies using Poppy Parade for the body of the flower and Flirty Flamingo for the outline, plus Basic Black for the center. The leaves are Old Olive and Pear Pizzazz. I tied a bow of Poppy Parade 1/2″ Textured Weave Ribbon separately (after trying to tie it onto the handle unsuccessfully!) and adhered it to the handle with Mini Glue Dots.

In this photo you can see the actual designer paper better from the back of the bag and how pretty it is:

While the Peaceful Poppies Designer Series Paper is going away (get it while it lasts in the Last-Chance List!), the two sets of dies that go with the Suite, the Poppy Moments Dies and Painted Labels Dies, will carry over to the new catalog!

Add some tissue paper and a gift inside, maybe make a matching gift card and you’ll have a charming gift to give someone special! Here’s a matching card idea you could even use to go with the bag! Just cut half a sheet of designer paper and make a gift bag with the basics of this Peaceful Poppies Gift Bag With Poppies.