We can always use a stash of “all-occasion” cards, or maybe they should be called “any-occasion cards” and this easy to make all-occasion card fits the bill! And sometimes you just want to make a quick and easy card and not spend a lot of time designing something super-special. Last night that was the case with me, as my niece had just come for a visit for several days, so I just wanted to try out some of my new paper but not take a lot of time right then making a card.

I decided to use the new Naturally Eclectic Designer Series Paper on this card. I chose a color for the card base from the list of coordinating colors with the paper on the back of the cardboard in the package (or you will find the colors in the catalog). I went with Peekaboo Peach, one of the continuing In Colors that we will have for another year. When I first laid this piece of designer paper on the top of the card, I loved it. Then I played around with other half and half combinations, etc. and nothing was striking me.  So I went back to the original paper and added a narrow margin of Soft Sky behind it. The Peekaboo Peach Ribbon is retired, but I had it so I used it!  You can substitute some other new ribbon.

For the greeting, I used the new stamp set Label Me Pretty and the coordinating punch, the Pretty Label Punch.  I stamped the greeting with Peekaboo Peach ink and then punched out. I thought I probably wanted to layer the greeting on something so I first thought I would cut off the margin of the punched greeting so I could layer that on the piece of cardstock punched with the Pretty Label Punch. But before I did that, I punched two pieces of Peekaboo Peach and layered them under the greeting and it seemed to be just fine!  What do you think? You can’t really tell it’s two separate punched pieces! There are other ways to make a punched layer look larger, like we used to do with the Decorative Label Punch but cutting two pieces in half, one horizontally and one vertically.  If you like the Label Me Pretty Stamp Set and the Pretty Label Punch (who wouldn’t?!), then buy them together in the Label Me Pretty Bundle, either clear-mount or wood-mount.

I think this is a very nice, simple stamp set and punch that you can use together or separately and get a lot of use out of. And of course the Naturally Eclectic Designer Series Paper is pretty on it’s own and help you be very creative!

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Make a bold bright card for any occasion with this beautiful designer paper, stamp set and trendy colors!  I just love this Whole Lot of Lovely Designer Series Paper in the new Stampin’ Up! Catalog.  I made a project the other day with the pattern on the other side of this black and white polka dot paper, so today I used this dramatic pattern. I decided to pair it with the Lemon Lime Twist new In Color for the card base and ribbon.  The bold greeting is from the Lots of Love Stamp Set.  I wasn’t quite sure how the size of the greeting would work on the card, but stamping it on a larger piece of paper gave me the idea to tie the ribbon around the bottom of the greeting.

You really never know exactly what you are going to come up with when you start stamping! You may think you have a specific idea, but then as you work, often some other idea pops into your head! These pretty designer papers this year in the new catalog as just scrumptious to work with! Be sure to check them out and however much you think you might like them, just multiply that by 200% by how you will like them in person!

I think this Lemon Lime Twist color (am I finally learning the proper name of it??) was one that maybe a lot of people didn’t like at first, but I think it is going to turn out to be a favorite.  I also love the Powder Pink.  And the Berry Burst isn’t bad either!

The ribbon I used on the card is the Lemon Lime Twist 1/2″ Finely Woven Ribbon.  I think you will like it.  It’s very soft and easy to tie.  I think it makes beautiful bows.  You can get it in any of the In Colors. So many pretty Stampin’ Up! ribbons this year too!

Go check out Lemon Lime Twist and see if that color appeals to you or grows on you!  You can get an assortment package of the In Color paper, that way, you can try them all and pick your favorites. Then go make a bold bright card for yourself!

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Online I saw several examples of a watercolored background and then the Happy Birthday Thinlits Die adhered over the watercoloring, and I really liked that look. It just takes some random watercoloring to make this so easy watercolored birthday card.  Just imagine all the different backgrounds you could make like this in so many colors!

The card base is Pear Pizzazz, layered with Fresh Fig, one of the new In Colors. The Happy Birthday Thinlits Die is also made with Fresh Fig. You have two choices for the top layer of the card. Whisper White is not very good for watercoloring although you can do a very minimal amount. A better choice is the Shimmery White Cardstock (I love that paper because it has the most subtle shimmer under the light!). This is what I used on this card. The best choice for watercoloring is, amazingly, Watercolor Paper!

To make the watercolored background, I just picked up various colors of ink in the lids of the ink pads with my Aqua Painter, one of my favorite tools, and randomly watercolored some blobs of color on the Shimmery White.  If you squeeze the ink pad top to bottom before you open it, you likely will cause a puddle of ink to appear in the lid of the ink pad.  If you do not, then put a tiny drop or two of reinker in that lid. You can also just touch the Aqua Painter to the actual ink pad to pick up ink but try to just do this on the corners of the ink pad so as not to get a lot of water in the ink pad. Also, if the puddle you make in the lid is real watery when you are finished, just take a paper towel and wipe it out before closing the ink pad so as not to get water in the ink pad. Depending on dry your ink pad seems to be, you might consider reinking it while you have it out!

The greeting on the card is just the Happy Birthday Thinlit Die so that serves as both an embellishment on the card and the greeting!  I love this die! Here is another card I made recently with the Happy Birthday die.  

I don’t own them yet, but I think Stampin’ Up! carried them in the past, the new Multipurpose Adhesive Sheets. You can adhere a piece of the adhesive sheet to the paper you are die-cutting, then the die cut will automatically have adhesive on the back.  No putting tiny dots of glue on the back of a finely die-cut image. So that is a product to consider if you are having trouble with adhering these intricate die cuts.

For some extra embellishment, I used a few of the retired Candy Dots scattered around, but now we have new versions you can purchase in the new catalog on pages 196-197.

I highly recommend the Happy Birthday Thinlit Die because it is bold enough to adhere over a lot of different backgrounds yet very delicate and pretty. Try the watercoloring technique for a background for your card as a different way of making an easy watercolored birthday card.

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